A Year or a Day
by kirahelena
Summary: It all started with a New Year's party at Meredith Grey's. A multi-chapter focusing on the growing relationship between Addison and Alex. Pre Six Days.
1. It's Just Another New Year's Eve

**A/N Hey guys, here's my first shot at a multi-chapter Addex fic as I am still in major denial that they aren't a thing even years later. Anyway, here's the first part, please let me know what you think! x**

"Hey, what's Dr Montgomery doing here?" Cristina asked as she wandered up to Meredith, coat still on and bottle of tequila in hand.

"I felt bad, how could I not invite her? Almost the whole freakin' hospital is here at this New Year party, even people we barely know, I had to invite her, its the decent thing!"

They watched as the redhead in question shifted uncomfortably in the corner, looking around at everyone nervously.

Cristina snickered. "Seriously though, your boyfriend's ex-wife is at a party in your house, this is great! You're totally screwed!"

"Who's screwed?" Izzie wandered over with a plate of food, which they both started helping themselves to, despite Izzie's protests.

Cristina waved vaguely in Addison's direction. "Meredith is. She invited Satan to her party, Satan is in her house."

"It's not that bad. It just shows I'm a good person, right? I am a good person."

Izzie just laughed. "For once, I'm inclined to agree with Cristina. You are so screwed."

* * *

Addison shifted nervously as she stood in the corner of Meredith Grey's living room. She had no idea how she managed to end up here, in her ex-husband's 12 year old girlfriend's house, on New Year's Eve all alone, surrounded by people who hate her. She had no idea what possessed her to accept the invitation, was she some sort of masochist?

To make matters worse she spotted Grey, Yang and Stevens, huddled together laughing, with glances thrown in her direction. Just great, as it wasn't enough that she was at a party on New Year's Eve all freaking alone, now she was the laughing stock of it! Just wonderful, really really wonderful.

She turned to grab her bag, resolving to cut her losses and just ring in the New Year alone with a bottle of vodka at The Archfield. She picked it up and made her way to leave when she was stopped by a voice.

"It's the weird judgy friends, isn't it? I get it, you come, you don't want to be lonely, it's the holidays. And then the weird judgy friends swoop in like vultures and pick you apart, staring and sniping, like they're all high and mighty and you're a piece of scum. Weird and judgy."

Addison just stared at the woman in front of her blankly. "Uh, sorry, who are you?"

"Oh right, didn't introduce myself, silly me. Torres, Callie Torres, ortho resident and genius, dates George O'Malley, and has to deal with the weird judgy friends on a semi regular basis."

Addison just laughed. "Well Torres, Callie Torres, ortho god, I am Add-"

"Addison Forbes Montgomery, baby saver extraordinaire!" Addison looked at her in shock as Callie laughed. "Oh come on everyone knows who you are! You save freaking babies! Plus there's the whole scandalous marriage, breakup, had an affair with the hot plastic surgeon and broke up her marriage stuff."

Addison looked even more shocked as she stared at the woman in front of her. "Too soon?" Callie asked.

Addison let out a genuine laugh. "No, you know what? I needed that. I like you Torres. Want to get drunk?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Callie smirked.

* * *

"Hey Bambi, get over here. Your girlfriend is making friends with Satan."

"Satan?" George looked over to where the three women were pointing, and saw his girlfriend laughing and drinking heavily with Addison Montgomery. "What's Dr Montgomery doing here?"

"Meredith invited her." Cristina stated as she shoved her face full of chips.

"What? Why?!" George cried.

"Oh come on people, it was the right thing to do! Is it so hard to believe that I was being a nice person? She had no one, I couldn't not invite her!"

"Mer, you're all dark and twisty, you are not a nice person. Crazy however? Yeah you're a crazy person. It's your boyfriend's ex-wife. Boyfriend's. Ex. Wife."

Izzie looked at Cristina. "Don't listen to her, Mer, she's had too much tequila. You are a good person, she's right about the crazy though."

"Who's crazy?" Karev asked, as he wandered in with a crate of beer in his arms. "Sorry, I was stuck in surgery, I brought booze though."

"Mer's crazy. She invited Satan to her party." Izzie explained.

"Dude, Addison's here?" Alex asked.

"Addison? When did you get on a first name basis with Satan?" Cristina asked.

"Actually she prefers 'The Ruler of All That is Evil'." They looked up at the new voice as Derek wrapped his arms around Meredith and place a kiss on his cheek, accepting 'surgery' as an apology for his lateness. "Anyone mind telling me why my ex-wife is drunk and in my girlfriend's house?"

They all laughed. "Dude, your girlfriend invited her." Alex said.

"Huh." Derek looked over as Addison and Callie threw back another shot.

* * *

Derek was right. Addison was very, very drunk. She was lonely and sad and found a great new friend who wanted to drink with her. So she drank. A lot. The only problem now is that said friend disappeared off with her boyfriend (probably having sex somewhere), which left her in the same predicament as earlier; all alone with people who hate her. Only now, she was outrageously drunk and it was 5 minutes until the New Year and she was alone.

She felt a hand on her back and looked up swaying into the eyes of her intern "Addison."

"Heyyy Karev," she slurred. "Have I ever told you that I don't like you?" She hiccupped. "I hate you. I hate you because you're so damn hot and its distracting cause i want to rip your clothes off." She hiccupped again. "You're just so God damn hot."

Alex let out a low chuckle "Have I ever told you that you're so God damn drunk?"

She hit his chest and glared. "Don't be an ass." The anger faded into sadness. "I'm all alone."

He reached up and stroked her hair. "You're not alone."

Meredith's voice rang out "Guys, countdowns about to start! 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!"

Alex leant down and pressed a light kiss to Addison's lips. "Happy New Year Addison."

She smiled up at him then quickly frowned bringing her hand to her mouth. "You okay?"

She shook her head and then turned to run, promptly tripping over her own feet. Alex caught her and then groaned as she uncovered her mouth to throw up on the floor.

"Derek?" Meredith got his attention as they stopped kissing for the New Year. "Your ex-wife just threw up on herself in my living room."

"Shit," He muttered as he saw the state Addison was in. "I should probably sort her out."

He started to go over there when he saw Alex picking her up off the floor and start carrying towards the bathroom. "I've got this, Shepherd. Can you just clean up the sick on the floor?" Derek just sighed and nodded, thanking him.

* * *

Alex placed Addison on the floor next to the bath, as she started crying and apologising over and over again. He hushed her as he took off her dress and balled it up, leaving her in just her underwear. "You're going to kill me when you remember this tomorrow, Addison."

He turned the shower on and put her under the water, washing her hair and the sick off her body, before wrapping her in a towel. She was still crying so he picked her up and carried her to his room, placed an old t-shirt of his on her, tucking the duvet up on her.

"I'm scared." she whispered. "I'm all alone and I've never been all alone."

He stroked her hair and kissed her on the forehead. "Go to sleep, Addison. You're not alone."

He left a bucket and a glass of water next to the bed and turned the light off before heading back to the party.

* * *

He went back down the stairs and walked back over to the group just as Derek rejoined the group.

"She okay?" Meredith asked Alex.

"Yeah, I put her in the shower, gave her some clean clothes and left her in my bed with a bucket. Figured she should crash here tonight. God, she's going to kill me tomorrow when she remembers I saw her in underwear."

"Well, I cleaned up all the vomit on the floor and Karev has seen my ex-wife half naked. Party turned out great, Meredith, well done." Derek said.

They all burst out laughing before Cristina holds up an almost full bottle of tequila. "More?" and they drank to the New Year.

* * *

Addison woke up the next morning, opened her eyes and instantly groaned as the light felt like it was splitting her head in two. She hesitantly peaked again and saw a bucket laying on the floor next to her and she rolled over, picking it up and throwing up into it, before laying back down with a groan. She felt like crap.

She barely remembered the night before from about 10pm onwards. She remembered meeting Callie, who was funny and great and really helped the awkwardness she felt at being at her ex-husband's girlfriend's house with alcohol. A lot of alcohol. She remembers drinking vodka after vodka after vodka. Then it's all in flashes. Callie went off with George. She was by herself. Karev coming over and talking to her. Then blank.

"I knew leaving that bucket there was a good idea." She looked up at saw the smirking face of her intern and for the first time since she woke up, fully realised her surroundings. She was not in her hotel room but instead in a bed that meant she was still at Meredith Grey's house, only just wearing her underwear and someone's t-shirt. Crap.

"Karev, could you talk quieter please? My head is going to explode." She groaned into the pillow as he moved over and sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Sorry." For a moment, she almost thought she saw concern on his face. "I brought you a couple of aspirin. Figured you'd need them after last night." The smirk was back again and she wondered if she had imagined it leaving.

She begrudgingly offered him a quick thank you as she took the pills and swallowed them. "What the Hell happened last night?"

"You don't remember?"

She shook her head, then regretted it. "I remember Callie leaving and you walking over. Then nothing."

Alex chuckled. "Well you're gonna love this. You were by yourself so I came over for a bit. You were very drunk, it was interesting." He smirked again and oh, she hated Drunk Addison right now. "Then Mer did the countdown, we kissed, then you fell over and threw up over yourself."

"I WHAT?" Addison sat bolt upright and immediately wished she hadn't as the room span alarmingly around her. "I threw up over myself?! In front of everyone?!" She took back her earlier statement: she was going to freaking kill Drunk Addison.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Seriously, you were drunk and upset and if anyone deserves to be drunk, it's you after the year you've had." She stared at him and he cleared his throat awkwardly; he had no idea why he felt the need to make her feel better. Just the same impulse came over him as when he didn't want her to be alone the previous evening. "Anyway, erm, yeah. I picked you up off the floor and carried you into the bathroom. Cleaned you up and put you in the shower, then put you to bed. Shepherd cleaned up the vomit in the living room."

Addison at this point was the same colour as her hair. "I, erm, thanks. You didn't have to do that so thank you. And sorry." She let out a light laugh. "Guess that explains what happened to my clothes."

"Oh right, yeah. I stuck your dress in the wash but I'm not sure it's going to come out. Hope it wasn't too expensive."

She wasn't about to mention that her designer dress was in fact very, very expensive and most definitely should be dry clean only. Instead she just gave him a smile and offered her thanks instead.

"I'm going to be even more of a laughing stock at the hospital now. I can't believe my ex-husband and my intern had to clean up my sick."

"Hey, no one's laughing at you, okay? Now did you want anything to eat?" At the thought of food her stomach turned again and she declined. "Cool, well you can stay as long as you like and when you're ready, I'll steal some shorts or something from Izzie and drop you home if you want?"

"Thanks, that would be great actually Karev. Do you mind if we leave soon? I just want to get out of here before I manage to humiliate myself further." He nodded his consent and turned to leave when her voice stopped him. "Alex? I mean it. Thank you so much. You're a good guy."

He smiled at her then walked out of the room, ignoring the fluttering in his chest that her words caused.

* * *

He walked into Izzie's room and found Meredith and Cristina in there as well. He ignored them and just started routing through the chest of drawers.

"Alex, what the Hell? Why are you going through my stuff?!" Izzie glared at him, throwing a pillow at him so it bounced off his head.

"I was trying to find some shorts for Addison. I'm going to drop her home."

Cristina snorted. "Oh McVomit woke up, did she? Man, you're whipped doing this for her; you're like her puppy."

"Yang, shut it okay." Alex snatched up a pair of shorts out of a drawer and slammed it shut. "She's a good person and doctor so don't call her that." he snapped as he left the room.

"I think Evil Spawn has a thing for Satan."

"Holy shit, Alex has a thing for Dr Montgomery, he really likes her." Izzie realised.

"Of course he does, he showered vomit off her for Christ's sake!" Meredith groaned and lay face down on the bed. "I just can't believe McDreamy's ex-wife threw up in my living room."

* * *

Alex dropped Addison back to the hotel, without her having to see anyone at Meredith's (thankfully for her) and with minimal conversation. Mostly due to the fact that she was hungover and humiliated. All he got from her were just repeated apologies to which he kept reassuring her that it was fine.


	2. Scatter January

**A/N: Thanks for the great response to the last chapter! Here's chapter 2. I am seriously in love with writing these two. Please let me know what you think about it. x**

After New Year's nothing much changed at work. Except everything did. Alex was still on Addison's service, but he stopped fighting her on everything and they settled into a comfortable routine. Addison pretended she didn't hear the whispers of 'McVomit' and 'doesn't she have any pride left?' in the corridor and both of them pretended that night didn't happen. They never spoke about it. Ever. Even when he left her dress, dry cleaned and hanging in the attending's locker room and she left Izzie's shorts in his locker.

They became sort of friends. Alex would walk into work in the morning with his usual black coffee, but he'd also have a vanilla latte in his hand for her, which she would graciously accept with a smile. He'd organise all her charts the way he knew she liked, even though it took 10 minutes longer. When he knew she'd had a long day, he'd offer to round on post-ops while she slept and when she knew he was having a hard day, she did everything to let him in on a surgery. They looked out for each other.

One day, Addison lost a mother in a routine c-section. Alex could see the despair on her face and offered to do post-op on the baby while she freshened up. Addison started to make her way to an on-call room when she heard one nurse whisper particularly loudly. "She's losing it! Bad enough that she cheats on her husband and has a drinking problem so bad she's now called 'McVomit' but killing patients?! Who even hired her?"

Addison froze in the hallway as she heard the comments. She was sick of ignoring them. It was one thing when they were just commenting on her shitty personal life (she probably deserved _that_ ), but to actual criticise her professional skills? She was pissed.

She whirled round on the spot and headed over to the nurse's station. "I am a double board certified surgeon. I have put up and ignore the snide comments for months now! Because yes, they are mostly true. I am an adulterous bitch. I chased my husband across the country. I'm lonely and have no friends. I got too drunk and vomited all over my myself- in my ex-husband's girlfriend's house! I'm McVomit! But I am one of the country's leading neonatal surgeons. I have fellowships in maternal fetal medicines and medical genetics! I have an impeccable reputation and you do not get to criticise me on that. If I hear any of you, I mean _anyone_ , make comments about my professional abilities again, I won't hesitate to go to the chief!"

Addison turned and went to storm off, seeing Alex standing off to the side, smirking at her. "Satan's back." He said as she stormed past him.

"Shut it Karev." She snapped back but she's smiling as she heads to the on-call room.

* * *

Addison woke a few hours later to the sound of the on-call room door slamming. She sat bolt upright in the bed, glaring at the intruder. "Karev, you scared the crap out of me."

He had the decency at least to look sheepish as he stood in the door, rubbing the back of his neck. "Er, Dr Montgomery, sorry, I didn't realise you were in here, I'll just go…"

"Wait, Karev, do you have an update on the baby?"

"Baby's doing well, breathing on his own, will probably be out of the NICU by the end of the day."

She sighed and laid back down on the bed, relief running through her body. "Good. That's good."

Karev turned to leave but came back into the room a second after. "Hey Addison, want to grab lunch with me tomorrow?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "So it's Addison now Karev? Is this cause you're asking me out on date?"

"I-uh-sorry Dr Montgomery, er, just as friends obviously, I mean I think we're friends- we are, um, friends aren't we?" He stammered.

Addison laughed. "Relax, Alex, I'm messing with you. We're friends, you can call me Addison- when we're talking as _friends-_ and I'd love to go to lunch tomorrow. You like the deli opposite the hospital?" He nodded, looking a touch relieved. "Meet me there at noon."

With that he smiled and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Addison walked up to the deli the next day, 15 minutes late. She rushed through the doors and saw Alex sitting at one of the tables in the corner and threw herself down on the chair opposite.

"Hey you're late. And I know for a fact you didn't have a surgery as it's your day off and I just came from the hospital, so you weren't there. Got you a vanilla latte anyway." He waved in the direction of the drink.

"God, Alex, I'm sorry, my mom called, which is crazy as I haven't spoken to her since the divorce, so really she just wanted to yell at me again for making a mess of my life and the 'Forbes Montgomery' name and… God, I'm ranting at my intern, sorry. Thanks for coffee." She laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it, breathe Addison. You want to order?" She smiled and nodded.

Their food came and they both sat in silence, occasionally bringing up a case or a patient. Addison kept picking at her salad before she started giggling.

"Something wrong?"

"Crap, this is awkward. Why is this awkward?"

"Thank God it's not just me. I guess we've never actually hung out before, at least not outside the hospital. I don't know anything about you!" Alex joined in with her laughter.

"Let's play a game!" She declared suddenly, when their laughter died off.

He shot her an odd look. "Okay, so apparently I know one thing: you're crazy."

Addison let out a big laugh and Alex smiled at her. "I'm serious, you ass. 20 questions. So we actually find out something about each other and we don't just sit in awkward silence."

"Fine, fine. You start." Alex chuckled.

"Why do I have to start?"

"It was your idea!"

She sighed. "Fine. Er, what's your favourite food?"

"Seriously, that's the best you could do?" She gave him a look. "Fine, it's lasagne. My grandma used to make it for me and my little brother and sister. Before she died, she taught me. So now I can cook the best lasagne in the world. You?"

She was staring at him when he finished, so she shook her head and looked down at her salad. "Wow, er, I like corn dogs." He burst at laughing so hard he was bent over the table and she looked at him indignantly. "What's so funny?"

"You. Addison Forbes Montgomery. The woman sat across from me wearing an outfit that I'm pretty sure is worth close to a thousand bucks. Likes corn dogs." He managed to get out in between breaths.

She glared and turned the same colour as her hair. "Shut it Alex."

And just like that they were definitely friends.

* * *

For the first time in 3 weeks Alex was not on Addison's service. She was going to be on-call all night and he was covering Meredith's shift and was therefore on during the day. About 30 minutes before the shift changeover, Alex was scrubbing out of a hernia repair before he realised this would be the first day that he wouldn't bring Addison a vanilla latte since the New Year. So he got changed out of his scrubs, made his way to the coffee cart and then waited in the lobby for Addison to turn up for her shift.

He saw the redhead walking through the main doors and stood up. "Dr Montgomery!" He called and she walked towards him.

"Karev, what are you doing here? Isn't your shift over?"

He sighed and shoved the coffee into her hand. "Yeah. Here. I just wondered…what's your favourite movie?"

"Seriously, you did not wait to ask me that! We're on like 33 questions, it's not even the game any more. If you just wanted to give me a coffee or see my face, you can just say." She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He went red. "Shut up and answer the damn question."

Addison laughed. "It's Pretty Woman." She saw his raised eyebrow. "Seriously, are you going to have an issue with every answer I give you? She goes shopping, I like shopping!"

"You, Addison Montgomery, are full of surprises." He smiled.

She blushed a deep red. "Yeah, well, you haven't told me your favourite! And make it quick, Karev, my shift's about to start."

"I like Miss Congeniality." He mumbled.

Addison burst out laughing as she went to walk away. "And you mocked me for my choice! See you later, Karev, thanks for the latte."

* * *

After a gruelling 7 hour bowel resection, Addison stood in the NICU looking at the preemie who was doing well. She hated her job sometimes, seeing these babies who were really sick, who had barely seen life, have to go through all these problems, was demoralising. But seeing the baby survive, despite all the odds against them, it almost made it all worth it. She put her hand into the incubator and stroked the baby's hand.

"Hey Baby Girl, you scared me for a bit in there. You're not allowed to do that again, not to me and not to your parents. You have to get better. As a favour. To me. Because I need to see you go home. I really need to see you go home healthy, okay?" She had tears running down her face when she finished and jumped when she felt a hand on the small of her back.

She frantically tried to wipe the tears away as she looked up to see Alex standing there and sighed. "Oh, it's you Karev."

"That's not the welcome I was hoping for." He smiled as he moved his arm round her waist and pulled her to his side, standing in silence as they watched the preemie. She cried softly as they stood there and he rubbed his hand up and down her side.

After staring at the baby for 5 minutes, Addison cries began to even out and Alex decided to break the silence. "What's your favourite pizza topping?"

Addison laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. "I like pineapple and chicken."

"You know the more I find out about you the crazier you are."

She hit him lightly. "Shut it Karev. I bet yours is something really boring like pepperoni."

"Pepperoni and olives." She made a face. "It's not as bad as yours, crazy woman."

"Alex?" He hummed in acknowledgement. "Thank you."

* * *

Addison sat at a table alone in the cafeteria, fed up of being lonely. Ever since the New Year, she had ate lunch with Callie but the other woman was stuck in a surgery, which meant she was back to being the outcast. She saw Alex make his way into the cafeteria and was tempted to ask him to join her, but knew he normally sat with his 'weird and judgy' friends. Plus, their friendship had so far consisted of lunches and coffees outside the hospital and she wasn't sure how he'd feel about his friends knowing that he was friends with 'Satan' (or 'McVomit' as she'd been known for the past 3 weeks).

Alex walked into the room and caught sight of the rest of the interns at a table in the corner. Izzie called his name and waved him over. He started to walk over to the table automatically when he got caught sight of Addison sat alone and without thinking headed in her direction instead.

"Hey." Alex said as he put his tray down and slid into the chair opposite Addison and she smiled up at him.

The other interns all stared over at them. "I can't believe Alex just blew us off for Dr Montgomery!" Cristina said as they watched Addison lean over the table and steal some of Alex's fries, laughing at something he said.

"Are they friends?" Izzie asked. "They look like friends."

"It's weird." said George. "I don't like it."

Meredith looked over at them. "They're friends. I mean don't you remember how he looked after her on New Year? You don't clean up someone's vomit if they're just your boss."

Addison laughed, throwing another of his fries in her mouth. "Dude, stop stealing my fries!"

"Karev, you did not just 'dude' me!" She actually managed to look affronted.

"Sorry… Addison. Stop eating my food." He smirked.

"So...question time. This is the big one. Decides whether or not we can truly be friends. This is the question of all questions."

Alex raised his eyebrows. "Come on. Bring it."

"What sauce do you have with your fries?" She stole another one as she asked this to wave it at him.

"Mayonnaise, obviously. And don't think I can't see you, stealing my food still."

Addison very obviously popped the fry into her mouth and chewed slowly. "Good, I have mayonnaise too. I thought you were going to be a ketchup person." She shuddered.

"So are we allowed to be friends then?"

"I suppose I can deal with being Alex Karev's friend." She smiled at him.

"Good." He smiled back, hitting the back of her hand as she took another handful of fries.


	3. February Brings the Rain

**A/N: You guys are the best. Seriously. Anyway, instalment no.3 in the story of Alex and Addison. I fall more in love with Addex everyday. Please please let me know what you think! I appreciate it! x**

"C-section is scheduled in 45 minutes. Karev, are you scrubbing in?" Addison asked as she got in the elevator beside him, ignoring the other occupants (who happened to be her ex-husband, his girlfriend and her ex-thing).

"Sure thing Dr Montgomery, want me to do pre-op and prep on the patient?" Addison nodded her consent and Alex leaned forward to whisper in her ear as he smirked. "Cosy in here, isn't it?"

She could feel Mark's eyes on her, glaring as Alex leant in close to her. She blushed and hit his chest. "Shut it, Karev."

He laughed and took a step back against the wall of the elevator and the small space fell into awkward silence again. Addison's stomach rumbled, echoing around the elevator and Alex snickered loudly. "Karev…" she warned.

He let out a laugh and apologised, lowering his voice. "Seriously though, Addison, when did you last eat?"

"I don't know Alex, before I left for work this morning. Maybe. When did you last eat?" She snapped.

"This wasn't part of our game, it was an actual question." He laughed, not seeming phased by her short temper. "And I ate 2 hours ago, at lunchtime, like a sensible person. You're eating before surgery." The elevator dinged as it reached her floor.

"Whatever, Karev. See you in half hour." She smiled at him as she walked off the elevator, leaving Alex alone with a very angry Mark.

The doors slid shut. "What the Hell was that Karev? Stay away from her, you don't get to lead her on and call her 'Addison'. Leave her alone." Mark practically growled, taking a threatening step towards Alex.

"Derek say something to him." Meredith urged.

"Why? Mark's right, I don't know whats going on there but I didn't like it. Karev stay away from her." Derek joined in.

"That's enough!" Meredith cut in. "Alex and Dr Montgomery are friends, so what?! She could use a friend, after what you two put her through so you don't get a say! And Derek, you didn't seem to mind so much when he was the one looking after her on New Year, so you didn't have to shower sick off her! They're friends, so just leave them alone."

They at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish as the doors opened and Alex walked off without saying a word.

"You're idiots." Meredith said.

"Yeah." Derek muttered. "Yeah, we are."

Alex finished pre-op and walked to the vending machine, grabbing a packet of chips and a pack of peanut butter cups before heading over to the nurse's station where he saw Addison standing. He chucked the food down in front of her, and she looked up at him frowning.

"Eat. I was serious."

She picked up the chips, opened the pack and began eating them. "Jesus, Alex, what's got your panties in a twist?"

"I just had your ex-boyfriend and your ex-mistress yelling at me in an elevator for talking to you, sorry if I'm not in a bright and shiny mood." He snapped at her, looking up in time to see the hurt flash across Addison's face and then sighed. "Sorry, that was, um, harsh. I shouldn't take it out on you, it wasn't your fault. It's just they hurt you! A lot. So they shouldn't get to tell you who you can and can't be friends with! They hurt you."

He ended softly and they stared at each other, her gaze flicked down to his lips then back to his eyes. She needed to say something. "What's your favourite drink?" She blurted.

He shook himself out of his trance. "Beer. Boring and predictable of me, I know. Yours?"

She grinned. "Vodka martini. Boring and predictable of me, I know. But you can buy me one tonight at Joe's." She walked off, throwing a wink at him over her shoulder, still munching on the chips. "Thanks for the food, Alex. Surgery in 10."

He stared after her as she walked off, not noticing Nurse Olivia last looking up at him from where she stood further down. "Dr Montgomery is great, isn't she?"

He thought about arguing with her but instead just smiled as he continued to stare after Addison. "Yeah." He agreed, with a small smile on his face. "She's something else."

* * *

That evening Addison walked into Joe's, wearing skin tight jeans, and a red top which showed more cleavage than most people would view as appropriate. She caught sight of Alex, sitting on a table off to the side with two drinks in front of him. She slid into the chair next to him, throwing a greeting in his direction.

"Hey." He responded, as his gaze travelled over her. "You look hot."

She blushed a deep red. "Eyes up here, Karev." She snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Thanks for the drink." She took a large gulp out of her glass.

"Why did you choose neonatal?" Alex asked after a while.

"Ooh, we're going into personal questions now? I don't even know your favourite musical yet." She saw the look on his face and laughed. "These babies, they can have the worst possible thing happen to them so early on, right at the start of their life. They have barely started their life and they have to go through so much pain and trauma so early. But the thing is you can fix them...you fix them and they get better and they begin to breathe on their own. They gain weight, they open their eyes and they get stronger. Then, one day...one day, they get to go home. And they live their life because of you. That's, um, that's why I wanted to do this job…" She shifted nervously and tucked her hair behind her ear, taking another sip of her martini.

Alex got Joe's attention and ordered Addison another drink. "I like Wicked."

"What?" She looked at him, confused.

He grabbed her hand. "My favourite musical. It's Wicked."

She smiled at him gratefully. "Mine too." She smirked. "My ex-husband and ex-mistress really yelled at you?"

He laughed out loud. "Full on. I mean, if Meredith hadn't stepped in, I think Sloan was going to beat me up and Shepherd was going to hold me in place so he could do it."

"Wait, Meredith was the one sticking up for me?" She stared at him in shock.

"Dude, you look like a fish. Close your mouth. Meredith's a decent person, apart from the whole sleeping with your husband thing. Anyway, she just told them to shut up, said they hurt you enough and you need a friend. Oh, and reminded your charming ex-husband that he didn't mind us being friends when it meant he didn't have to be the one showering sick off you."

She groaned. "I almost forgot about that. Wait, I thought you said you put me in the shower not showered me?!"

Alex turned red and started stammering. "Well, I, um, was going to put you in the shower, but you kind of couldn't stand so I kind of got in there with you."

"Alex, please, tell me I was fully dressed. Please tell me that."

"I might have already taken your dress off so you were just in your underwear… but it was fine, you know, you had nice underwear and, um, a very nice body, so…"

She banged her head on the table lightly. "You did not just say that, please tell me you didn't just say that." Her shoulders were shaking lightly and Alex placed his hand on her back, alarmed.

"Addison, are you crying? Addison!" She looked up and Alex saw she was hysterically laughing. "Dude, what the Hell?"

"My intern saw me half naked in the shower and told me I look hot. And even though he's an ass, he's my best friend in the whole city." She said in between laughter.

He joined in her laughter and they just sat laughing together for a while. "You're my best friend too, you know? My very hot best friend."

She elbowed him hard in the stomach. "Ass." She muttered, but she had the biggest smile on her face.

* * *

Alex sat in the cramped gallery, watching Cristina assist Dr Burke on a cardiac autotransplantation. It was revolutionary surgery, and he couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous. That was until a certain redheaded attending weaved her way through the crowd to take the seat next to him.

"Look at that, they are literally taking a heart apart and putting it back together. It's amazing!" Addison breathed.

"You know, you fix babies." Alex smirked. "I'd say that is amazing."

"Yeah, I am freakin' awesome. But that's old news, got to let the others have time in the spotlight." She winked at him.

"God, you're big-headed." Alex chuckled.

She laughed with him and shrugged. "It's not big-headed if it's true."

They watched the surgery in silence for a while as they started scraping out the tumour. The tense bit was over so Addison decided to break the silence. "What's your favourite type of weather?"

He looked over at her, thinking for a second. "I like the snow. I like how peaceful it is, and white. I grew up in Iowa and had a pretty crappy childhood. But the first snow in winter, when no one has been outside and there are no footprints and everything is so _undisturbed_. It's like a little sliver of perfect." He cleared his throat awkwardly, accidentally revealing more personal information than he intended.

Addison quickly jumped in. "I love the rain. So I guess I came to the right city. It's just freeing you know? I feel like I'm drowning all my adulterous sins away." She gave him a smile and raised her eyebrow. "Rain is fun, it makes me laugh."

"Your adulterous sins?" He questioned.

She laughed. "What can I say? I've got a reputation as a sinner around here."

Meredith, George and Izzie sat a few seats over from them in the OR gallery, watching them as they were talking. "What's with them and that game they play?" Izzie asked.

"I don't know, some sort of friendship bonding game. It seems to be working, I reckon Dr Montgomery knows more about Alex than we do." Meredith answered.

"Well I don't know about that. I don't like it anyway."

"Iz, you're just saying that as you're jealous that Addison has overtaken you as Alex's BFF." George laughed.

"Yeah, whatever." Izzie mumbled.

* * *

Addison walked into her office a few days later to see Alex sat in her chair waiting for her, with his feet resting on the desk.

"Karev, move your ass out of my chair."

He smirked. "Good morning to you too, Dr Montgomery."

She gave him an eyebrow raise. "Morning, Alex. How did you sleep? Did you have a nice dinner last night? When you get a minute, if you wouldn't mind taking your feet off my desk and moving your ass, that would be lovely."

"Oh sarcasm is not a good look on you Addison." Alex said as he moved and walked round the desk and stood next to her.

She finally gave him a smile. "Shut it Alex." She elbowed him lightly. "Anything you particularly wanted to annoy me about this early in the morning?"

"What's your favourite thing to do?" He asked, handing her the vanilla latte he brought her.

She shot him a weird look. "I like rollercoasters. When I'm on them, with the wind in my hair, and the adrenaline running through my body, I get the biggest smile on my face and I just feel free, you know?"

"I like watching documentaries. The nature ones. Gives me a bigger perspective on life and everything. Reminds me that my problems are smaller than they seem and the world, the world is extraordinary." He smiled at her.

"So that's not really why you're waiting for me in my office, is it?" She leaned on the desk and looked at him, drinking her coffee.

"Well, it kind of is? We're all having a documentary binge watch tonight and I wondered if you want to come? I know it'll be weird but you're my best friend so I hope you will come."

"Well at least you have the decency to look sheepish." She sighed. "I guess when you say 'we all' we're talking about your ex-girlfriend, my ex-husband, the woman he slept with while we were married, O'Malley and his girlfriend, who is my friend?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sounds about right. There will be alcohol."

"Because that worked out so well last time." She couldn't help but add sarcastically. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but yes. You owe me."

He gave her the biggest grin. "Thank you! I'll meet you in the lobby at 8." He turned to leave and was half out the door before turning back. "Just don't vomit this time, yeah?"

"Shut it, Karev!" She yelled after him.

* * *

Alex met Addison later on in the lobby, a few minutes after 8. "You ready?" He asked. "I'll drive us." He started to walk off and then noticed she wasn't following. "You better not be bailing on me, Addison."

"No, I'm not! It's just that…" She waved down at what she was wearing and he noticed she was still in her heels, designer skirt and silk blouse. "I'm not really dressed for documentary binge-watching and alcohol."

He sighed. "I'll lend you some sweats and a hoodie. Now come on."

They drove to Meredith's house in companionable silence but as they pulled onto the driveway Alex noticed Addison shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Dude, are you nervous or do you just need to pee or something?"

Addison turned the same colour as her hair. "Don't be an ass." She muttered.

He looked at her and laughed. "Oh my God, you are! The great Dr Addison Forbes Montgomery is scared of a few interns and a brain surgeon!"

"Shut it, Karev. I mean it."

He reached across and grabbed her hand, speaking to her softly. "You have nothing to be scared of, you're awesome. Trust me."

She looked up at him and saw the genuine smile on his face as he got out the car. She took a deep breath and prepared herself to make the run to the porch from the car in the pouring rain. She opened the door and stepped out, about to make a break for it when she was stopped by her intern, who picked her up and spun her in the rain, while she hit him repeatedly.

"Karev, what the Hell are you doing?! Put me down jackass, I'm getting soaked." She yelled.

"No, I'm not putting you down until I get a laugh. 'Rain is fun' remember?" He mocked and he was only rewarded with a glare and more hitting. "Plus, I just need to make sure you are sin free before you step inside my house." He smirked and managed to get a genuine laugh out of her, so he walked to the porch and put her down. "Better?"

She looked down at herself. "I look like a drowned rat." She deadpanned before giving him a small smile. "But yes, better, thanks Alex."

He unlocked the door and they stepped inside dripping water in the hallway.

"Jesus, Alex, how far away did you park? You look like you brought a lake in here… Dr Montgomery I didn't know you were coming?" Meredith trailed off as she saw a soaking wet Addison standing behind him.

"You didn't tell her!" Addison hissed at Alex. "Ass."

Alex turned to Meredith and raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

"No no, not at all, it's fine! We just ordered the pizza, should be here soon, so why you don't you go and get dry and then meet us all in the living room?" Meredith stammered.

Addison followed Alex up the stairs. "You better get me some alcohol soon Karev."

Meredith walked into the living room and everyone stared at her. "What it wasn't pizza?" Cristina asked.

"No, it was Alex, and guess who he brought with him? Dr Montgomery!"

"Wait, Addison's here? Great!" Callie said with a smile, everyone looked at her incredulously and then started talking over each other.

"My ex-wife is here?!"

"She's not going to vomit again, is she?" George asked nervously.

"He brought Addison?! But it's a friends evening!" Izzie whined.

Meredith heard footsteps on the stairs and hissed over them. "Yes, it is friend's evening and she is Alex's friend that is why she's here, so you need to get over yourselves and be nice because I'm the one who ruined her marriage so I cannot kick her out my house too!"

Everyone fell silent as Alex and Addison walked into the living room, laughing with a beer in hand. She was wearing his Iowa Uni hoodie and a pair of sweats which were far too big for her and her hair hung, soaking wet, around her face. They headed for the remaining armchair, oblivious to all the eyes following them as he let her take the seat before he sat at her feet, his back against the chair.

Alex looked up to see them all staring. "Pizza not here yet?" He asked to break the awkward silence, but as he did the doorbell rang and Meredith jumped up to get it, grabbing Derek's wallet on the way out.

"So what have we ordered pizza wise?" Addison asked in another attempt to break the silence that was enveloping the room.

"It's one between two, so I guess you're sharing with Alex?" Callie answered.

"Cool, what have we got on ours then?" She asked, looking down at Alex.

He smirked at her. "Pineapple and chicken."

"Ew, gross you like that too?" Derek asked.

"No dude, it's gross. But it's Addison's favourite and I owed her one." She smiled and thanked him.

"Can you be whipped if you're just friends? Cause he is so whipped." Cristina laughed.

"Shut it Yang." He snapped, but it seemed to bring everyone out of their trance and they all carried on their conversations from before.

The pizza had been finished, a few more beers were drunk, and they were halfway through their 3rd episode of Blue Planet when Alex began fidgeting on the floor.

"Karev, seriously if you don't quit moving, I'm going to make Bailey put you on scut for a week." Derek snapped as Alex glared at him.

Addison scoffed. "Oh please, Derek you know Miranda doesn't listen to a word you say." Callie and Meredith both laughed at this. Addison sat forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just my ass hurts, I fractured my coccyx when I was a kid and this hard floor isn't helping."

"Do you want the chair? I'll be fine on the floor."

"Addison, it's fine honestly. I'm not going to make you sit on the floor."

"You make me sit on the floor." Callie whispered to George.

"Alex, don't be an ass. Take the God damn chair." She snapped.

"Fine." He said, standing up and turning to face the chair. He picked her up and sat down, unceremoniously dumping her in his lap.

She hit his chest. "Karev, what the Hell!"

"Shut up Adds, I said you weren't going to sit on the floor."

She grumbled a bit before raising her eyebrow. "Adds?"

"Adds?" Izzie whispered to George, as she mocked his voice.

Alex turned red. "I..um…I…sorry?"

Addison laughed. "Chill, Alex, I'm just messing with you. I like it." They smiled at each other.

Cristina turned to Meredith and whispered. "They just need to fuck already."

Meredith laughed at her. "Tell me about it."


	4. Winds of March

**A/N: Well, here's chapter 4. Hope you enjoy and as usual review review review :) x**

"Where have you been Karev?" Addison snapped as she saw him waiting for labs.

"Dr Montgomery, sorry, Bailey put me on Sloan's service today, did she not give you another intern?"

"No she did not. What part of your ass is mine did you not understand?" She snapped as she walked off.

Sloan passed her in the corridor and couldn't resist making a comment. "Fancy a romp in the supply closet later?" He smirked.

Alex looked up from where he was looking at the labs that had been handed to him, glaring at Mark.

"Mark, shut up. I am not in the mood to deal with your manwhore ways today, just not today."

"Jesus, Addison, when did you become such a frigid bitch?" Mark muttered.

Alex was fuming and started heading towards them.

She spun on her heel, staring at him furiously. "What did you just say to me?!"

"I said that you are such a frigid bitch."

Addison opened her mouth to respond but was stopped by Alex stepping in front of her. "You do not get to talk to her like that."

Sloan looked for a moment like he was going to punch him, but stepped back shaking his head slightly. "Whatever, Addison, get your lapdog to heel. Karev, hand me the labs, and you know the drill, bone-dry cappuccino." He snatched the labs from Alex and stormed off.

Alex turned to look at Addison, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Adds, are you okay?"

She shrugged his hand off her. "I'm fine. I don't need you to protect me, I'm capable of doing that myself. And it's 'Dr Montgomery' when we're at work." She snapped as she stormed off.

"What the Hell?" Alex muttered to himself as he stormed off to get Mark his coffee.

* * *

Alex found Mark at the nurse's station and handed him his coffee 10 minutes later. "One bone-dry cappuccino."

"Great." Mark muttered, taking a sip of the cappuccino and choking. "What the Hell is this Karev? Vanilla? Are you trying to poison me, or are you just trying to make my day a little bit worse?"

Karev just shrugged, fighting to keep a smirk off his face. "Coffee cart must've screwed up."

He started to walk off when Mark called after him. "You know, if you can't handle coffee, you can't handle plastics. You're off my service; you can spend the rest of the day in the pit!"

* * *

Alex was moping after spending the past 3 hours in the pit suturing, wandering to find the nearest on-call room to lay down for an hour or so before he knew he would be paged again. Opening the door to the on-call room he stepped inside and heard the muffled sound of crying. He almost walked straight back out but he saw a familiar flash of red hair so closed the door behind him and walked in.

He walked up to the bed that she was curled up on and perched on the edge of it, placing his hand on her hip, listening to her cries for a second.

"So, I gave Sloan a vanilla latte today." She froze and he knew she was listening. "Instead of a cappuccino."

"Here I was thinking the vanilla lattes were something you only brought me. So much for me being special." She muttered.

"Good to know that you still have a sense of humour." He squeezed her hip.

She sighed. "Sorry, why did you do that?"

"Because he was rude to you, Adds."

Her heart skipped a beat and her breathing hitched. "I was rude to you as well." She whispered.

"I'm an ass, I'm sure I deserved it."

She shook her head. "You didn't deserve it. It...it's just a difficult day for me."

"Can I do anything?"

She gulped and looked at him. "Do you think you could hold me?"

He kicked off his shoes and climbed into the bed behind her, pulling her to him. He let her turn around in his arms and cry into his chest, stroking her hair. "Anything for you, Adds, anything." And he held her until she fell asleep.

* * *

Alex walked into Joe's that evening and ordered a beer, looking round the bar when he spotted his best friend sat in a booth in the corner. "Hey Joe, can I have a vodka martini as well?"

"For Dr Montgomery?" Joe asked and Alex nodded at him. "Look after her, she seems sad this evening."

"Will do, thanks Joe." He threw a handful of bills on the counter and picked the drinks up, heading over to Addison.

"Hey." He greeted, sliding into the booth next to her and she looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not tonight. I want to forget tonight."

"Okay, want to ask me a question?" He smiled, taking a sip of his beer.

A soft smile crossed her face as she took a big gulp of martini. "I've got a good question, but I'm not sure I want the answer… What did I say to you while drunk on New Year's Eve?"

He smirked and look at her. "You really want to know?" She nodded hesitantly. "Okay so before you get mad at me, this is a direct quote. You said 'I hate you. I hate you because you're so damn hot and it's distracting cause I want to rip your clothes off. You're so God damn hot."

She blushed and her face turned the same colour as her hair. "I…uh…I did not say that!"

"Adds, you did, it was very amusing. Actually it was hilarious, your drunk ranting is cute." She still look mortified. "If it helps the moment was ruined when you threw up over yourself two minutes later."

She started giggling, quietly at first, then louder until she was in hysterics and Alex stared at her for a second before joining in, laughing for a solid five minutes, drawing attention from the other customers. They stopped laughing and Addison saw the position she ended up in: her face was only inches from Alex's and they were both staring each other breathless. Her eyes flicked to his lips and he started to lean in when they heard a crash as someone at the next table knocked a glass off.

They both pulled back in a hurry, avoiding eye contact. "I…uh…It's late, I should probably go home." She stammered.

"You're right, come on I'll take you home." Alex said, standing and offering her his hand.

"It's fine Alex, I can go home by myself, I am a big girl."

Alex sighed. "Adds, you've had at least three vodka martinis and you've been upset today. I would be a crappy best friend if I let you drive home, now take my damn hand and let me take you home."

She ran her hand through her hair, then took his hand. "Fine, take me home."

* * *

Alex was walking into the hospital the next day, when he saw Addison sat in her car in the parking lot. He walked over and tapped on the window, causing her to jump and open the door.

"Jesus Alex, you scared the life out of me." She said as she reached out and hit him. He walked round and got in the passenger seat of her car, causing her to glare at him. "What the Hell?"

"You look like crap." He stated.

She stared at him in shock. "Jeez, Karev, way to kick a girl when she's down."

He sighed. "What I mean to say is I know you were upset yesterday. And you are obviously still upset today. So, if you want to, um, like talk about it. I'm here. For you. I'm always here Adds." He shrugged and looked over at her.

Addison did not want to cry today and yet she still felt the tears spill out onto her cheeks. "I, um, I aborted Mark's baby." Alex reached out and took her hand silently, squeezing it gently to let her know he was there. "About eight months ago, I peed on a stick, and I wasn't even gonna tell him but then I did... tell him. And he went out and bought this insane Yankee's onesie and a calendar and marked the due date, which I should mention was yesterday. And it's not that I didn't want a baby. It's just…I wanted Derek. I wanted to have a baby with Derek. Mark would have been a terrible father. I just never thought I'd end up alone." The tears were streaming down her face and she finally looked up from her lap and looked him in the eye. "Do you hate me?"

He reached up and brushed the tears away from her cheeks. "Oh Adds, I could never hate you. And you are not alone, you have me! And Callie. And Bailey. You have a lot of people who care about you." She rolled her eyes.

"I mean it Adds, you have me. And I don't hate you. I think you're so brave, the bravest woman I've ever met. And one day, you'll find a guy who deserves you and you'll have all the babies you want."

They sat in silence for a while, Alex holding Addison's hand as her tears eventually stopped. "You're late for rounds. Bailey's going to kill you."

Alex shrugged. "Yeah, well. You're worth it."

"Go, Alex, I'll be fine. But thank you, for everything." He leant across and kissed her cheek and climbed out of the car, starting to walk towards the hospital. She reached up and lightly touched her cheek in a daze. She climbed out of her car and called after her.

"Hey, Karev! Want to come round later for pizza and beer?"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "Sure thing, Dr Montgomery."

* * *

Alex walked into The Archfield and up to Addison's floor at 9.30pm that night. Bailey had put him in the pit all day to punish him for being late to rounds and he hadn't stopped suturing and dealing with vomit and various other things all day, working 2 hours after he was meant to finish.

He knocked on the door and Addison swung it open almost immediately. "How do you feel about chick flicks?" She asked as she stood back to let him past. "You're late by the way."

Alex looked up confused. "They're a bit girly for me, but they are alright I guess." He shrugged. "Bailey was on my ass for being late."

"Sorry about that." There was a knock at the door. "Room service." She opened the door and took the pizza box, giving a generous tip. She settled on the bed and patted the space next to her, inviting him to sit down.

"You get pizza on room service in a hotel as fancy as this?" Alex asked as he raised an eyebrow at her, while she handed him a beer.

"You tip enough, you can get anything here." She said as she flipped the lid on the pizza box.

"Pepperoni and olives. You remembered?"

"Course I remembered. Anyway, I figured I owed you as I am going to spend all night forcing you to watch chick flicks. First up, Pretty Woman."

He rolled his eyes and sighed, taking a slice of pizza. "I should've expected that, considering it's coming from you."

"Oh shut up, if you're lucky, I'll let you watch Miss Congeniality."

He kicked her leg gently. "Knew I'd regret telling you that." He grumbled.

Addison just laughed as she pressed play on the DVD.

After finishing several beers, they were almost finished on their third movie of the night: The Notebook. They had moved so they were both sat against the headboard, close enough to each other that their arms were brushing. Alex looked over when he heard sniffles coming from next to him.

"Dude, are you crying?!"

She hit his chest. "What have I said about calling me dude? And it's sad, leave me alone."

He placed his arm round her, smiling as she curled closer into his chest. "Fine, I'll be nice."

They watched the rest of the movie in silence, Alex tightening his grip on her arm, when they got to a particularly sad bit.

"Right, I should go and get a cab home." Alex said as the film finished.

Addison looked up at him. "You don't have to go, you can just stay if you want." He raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh get your mind out of the gutter, Karev, not like that. It's a big bed and we're grown ups and you live on an intern salary so I'm guessing you can't afford to be splashing out on cabs!"

He looked at her seriously. "You sure Adds?"

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Unless I'm so irresistible, you're scared you can't keep your hands to yourself?"

"Haha, very funny." He replied as she laughed and grabbed an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts from the dresser and moved to the bathroom to change. He moved the empty pizzaboxes off the bed and stepped out of his jeans, leaving him in his top and boxers. He climbed into bed as she stepped out of the bathroom, her hair up in a bun and her face make up free.

"Stop staring Alex, I look like crap I know." She said as she turned the light off and got into the bed.

She was almost asleep when she heard his whispered response. "No, Adds, you're beautiful." She didn't say anything just rolled over so her head lay on his chest and her arm was around his waist. He froze for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, both of them drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Neither of them mentioned that night spent in Addison's hotel room and they just settled back into their normal friendship routine of vanilla lattes, drinks at Joe's and lunches at the deli. A few weeks went by where the hospital was so busy, they barely saw each other outside of work and Alex had to admit he missed her.

He was sat eating lunch in the cafeteria, while Izzie was arguing with Meredith about throwing a dinner party at the house, when he saw her walk in, chatting to Callie. She was laughing at something the other woman had said, running her hand through her red hair as they joined the back of the queue.

"Izzie, listen we tried the dinner party thing at Thanksgiving. It didn't work then, what makes you think it'd be any different now?"

"Meredith, think of that like a trial run! They'll be less food as it's not a holiday and we have more people to invite now, Alex, back me up here. Alex?!"

Izzie slapped him and he snapped out of his daze. "Sorry, what?"

"You were staring again, Alex. Quit staring at her, it's weird." Izzie said.

"I wasn't staring! I don't stare, okay?" He snapped.

Izzie stood up and raised her hands in surrender as her pager went off. "Okay, fine, whatever! Just talk to Meredith about the party, will you?"

As Izzie walked off, Meredith turned to Alex, watching him for a second. "You really like her, don't you?" She asked softly.

Alex looked at her confused. "Who Addison? Well, yeah she's my friend. Of course I like her."

"No, I mean you _like_ her like her. Like possibly falling in love, like her."

"God Meredith, no! She's my friend, that's it, nothing more!"

Meredith sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, Alex, if you say so. Just saying though, I'm your friend and you don't stare at me like that. If you did, Derek would kick your ass."

Alex glared at her, so she gave up and ate lunch in silence.

"You know you're going to end up having a dinner party, don't you?"

"Yeah I know." Meredith sighed.


	5. Sometimes it Snows in April

**A/N: Hey guys, back again! I got 2 reviews for the last chapter (yay!) so I'm glad to know people are still enjoying it. Anyway, it's April for our favourite pair, please let me know what you think! x**

Addison walked into her office to find Alex sat in her chair with his feet up. She looked up from the chart she was reading and slammed it down on the table.

"You know, this is getting to be like a bad sense of deja vu." she said drily as she walked round and pushed his feet of her desk with her hip. "Want to tell me why you're here? You're not going to ask me my favourite thing to do again, are you?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Actually, I was going to ask you, what your favourite vacation spot was."

"Really?" She looked at him with her eyebrows raised, picking up the coffee he'd left for her and taking a sip.

"No, I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to this dinner party that Izzie's throwing this weekend with me, I just thought I should butter you up first." He smirked.

She smiled at him. "Ass. But luckily for you it worked. I'd love to come." Alex looked at her in disbelief. "Well actually, I'd hate it, but you'd be there so I suppose it'd be bearable."

"Thank God, for a moment I thought you'd been abducted by aliens."

"Haha, you're funny." She said sarcastically. "Now get your ass out of my chair and do my pre-ops, Karev." He reluctantly stood up and headed towards the door. "Oh and Alex? My favourite vacation spot is Mexico."

He smiled as he left the room.

* * *

Alex saw Addison walking into the cafeteria and waved her over, knowing Callie had a surgery over lunch. She sat down on the chair opposite and let out a big sigh.

"I got you lunch." Alex pushed the salad in front of her. "What's up with you?"

She opened the salad and took a big mouthful, moaning as she chewed. She waved her fork at him. "This is good salad. This is not cafeteria salad."

"Hey watch it! Don't stab me with that thing, crazy woman. That's cause I got it from the deli. Now tell me what's up."

She gave an over exaggerated pout. "I've been standing up all day talking to nervous mothers and stupid interns and my feet hurt."

Alex smirked at her. "That pout is real mature, Adds, it's a good look."

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up, I'm adorable."

"You are. The only reason your feet hurt is because you insist on wearing 4-inch Louboutin's all day and the nervous mothers is the whole 'neonatal surgeon' thing."

She laughed. "Thanks for the sympathy. How do you know what Louboutin's are anyway?"

He turned red. "They have red soles. Adds, I've been best friends with you for 3 months, there's no way I wouldn't know what they are."

She grinned and put her hand on his across the table. "I knew I had you whipped."

He glanced down at their hands nervously and cleared his throat, causing her to move her hand back quickly and pick her fork up. "So… um, Mexico?"

"Well that is my favourite holiday destination I've been to so far, you know white sandy beaches and all that crap. My _dream_ holiday destination is Orlando."

He nodded. "Right, the rollercoaster obsession. Hey, are you saying you've never even been to Disneyland? You?" She shook her head as he continued to stare at her in disbelief. "I am taking you to Disneyland one day, when I'm not living on an intern salary obviously."

She ignored the flutters in her chest and raised an eyebrow at him as she continued to eat her salad. "You see us being friends that long?"

He smiled at her. "Dude, you're stuck with me for life. BFFs and all that crap."

"Did you just call me your BFF? 'Dude' you really are 12." She said laughing as he grumbled and threw his napkin at her.

* * *

"Karev." Addison called as she ran to catch up with him on the glass walkway. "Alex!" She yelled.

He stopped as he heard her heels clicking rapidly behind him. "You alright, Adds?" She stopped, out of breath and breathing heavily. "Jesus, how far did you follow me?"

"Only up the stairs and along, I'm not as fit as I used to be, okay?"

He laughed at her. "Aw you're getting old."

She elbowed him hard in the gut causing him to let out a grunt. "Ass. Anyway, this dinner party tonight, what do I wear and do I need to bring anything? Assuming you still want to go with an old lady?"

"Shut up. You're a hot old lady." She glared at him. "Sorry sorry, a very beautiful woman, who is not at all old! Better?" He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. "Iz says it's semi-formal so wear a nice dress and heels? And just bring booze, that should be fine."

"Okay. Okay, I can do that." She twisted her hair nervously. "Like wine or something stronger?"

"Wine should be fine." He looked at her and smiled. "Is Addison Montgomery nervous? Again?"

She ran her hand through her hair. "No. Yes. Just last time was casual and documentaries and this is semi-formal! It's conversation!"

"Addison, you are amazing. Trust me. You'll be absolutely fine. I would not be friends with you if you weren't amazing. And insanely hot." He smirked at her.

"Ass. Will you pick me up-" She stopped and stared outside the window. A slow smile spread across her face and she grabbed his hand, pulling him.

"Dude, what the Hell?!"

"Alex, it's snowing, come on Alex, let's go outside, it's your favourite!"

"What you on about? Snow, it's April!"

She pointed outside. "Look! Let's go, let's go!" She started dragging him through the hospital while he laughed and followed. The sight of the usually composed Addison Montgomery dragging her intern through the hospital gained several weird looks from the nurses and other doctors around, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

She walked out the doors of the hospital and let go of Alex's hand, spinning around in the snow with her arms in the air. "Dude, I thought snow was meant to be my thing." He deadpanned but he had the biggest smile on his face as he watched her laugh.

"Alex, come on!" She held her hand out to him but he ignored it, instead choosing to grab her waist and pick her up, ignoring her protests. He span round with her in the snow until they were both breathless from laughing and frozen from the cold.

Alex put her down on the floor and reached up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, leaning down and gently kissing her forehead. Her pager went off and they jumped apart. She checked it and looked up at him. "Right Karev, back to work."

He held the door open for her. "After you, Dr Montgomery."

* * *

Alex knocked on Addison's hotel room at 7.30 that evening and she opened the door flustered, one shoe on and holding on to the door balancing as she put her other heel on.

"Come in, I'm almost ready I swear."

"Yeah you look it." He laughed at the flustered look on her face.

Addison started ranting at him from the bathroom, where she was finishing getting ready. "Sorry, my last surgery ran late and then I had to stop and grab some wine, before I realised I forgot my card so I had to run back to the hospital and get it but by that point, I was so late, so I just ordered a bottle of wine from room service, which cost four times more than it would from the store and-"

"Adds, shut up and stop stressing. And get your ass out here, we're late."

She huffed at him and stepped out the bathroom, wearing a short skintight dark green dress, looking at him as he stared at her. "Hey Karev! Eyes up here!"

He looked at her flustered and started stammering. "I…um…You look beautiful, Adds."

Addison blushed. "Yeah, well, thanks." She picked up the bottle of wine and her bag and headed to the door. "You ready?"

He rolled his eyes. "I've been waiting for you, Adds. Come on." He held his hand out to her as they left and walked her to his car.

* * *

Alex opened the door to Meredith's house, pulling Addison through the door behind him and shouting to announce his present.

"Alex, you're late, we're in the dining room, hurry up!" Izzie shouted from the other room.

"Hey, cool it, Izzie. Not my fault, Addison takes forever to get ready. Ow." Alex rubbed the spot on his arm where she hit him.

"I want them to like me." She hissed at him.

He just rolled his eyes and walked into the dining room, Addison trailing behind him. "You'll be fine." But he placed his hand on the small of her back for support.

She smiled at him and turned to everyone. "Hey, sorry for being late. Got caught up in a surgery. But I brought wine!"

Various greetings of 'Addison' and 'Dr Montgomery' were thrown her way as she sat down next to Alex at the table. They sat in awkward silence picking at their food.

"This chicken is really good, Iz." Alex ventured to break the silence.

"It's Derek's chicken." Addison said without looking up from her plate. She looked up and noticed everyone staring at her. "What?"

"No, it's not." Meredith said. "Izzie made the food for tonight."

"I was married to the guy for 11 years and he can cook all of 3 meals. It's his chicken." She shrugged.

"Damn, she caught me! I can't cook, okay? I tried to make lasagne and I burnt it! Shepherd had to rescue me and make the chicken." Izzie said flustered.

Everyone laughed at her and congratulated Addison on catching her out. Addison began to relax and Alex took her hand under the table and squeezed it.

"Hey, did anyone see the snow earlier?" George asked and with that the table fell into easy conversation and Addison looked up to smile at Alex.

* * *

After they had all had several glasses (bottles) of wine, they had moved to the living room and were sat in the same positions as the other day with Addison perched on Alex's lap. She was leant across the arm of the chair chatting to Callie, while Alex was talking to Meredith and Izzie.

"Manhattan, are you telling me that nothing is happening between you and that hot young intern whose lap you are sitting on?" Callie whispered the Addison.

"Callie, shut up." She hissed. "He's my best friend, nothing more."

"Oh, I thought I was your best friend?" Addison just rolled her eyes. "Just saying when you finally jump his bones, let me know so I can say I told you so."

She reached across to hit Callie across the back of her head, before being pulled back by Alex. "Dude, stop digging your bony ass into me."

She turned and glared at him and he started backtracking. "Not that you have a bony ass, just you know the regular bones. You have a very nice ass. It's hot, a very hot-"

Addison turned the same colour as her hair. "Alex, thank you. Now, shut up." She muttered as everyone laughed and she ignored Derek's mutterings of 'whipped'.

Alex ignored their whispers and pulled her closer. "Do you not like me talking about your hot ass?" She elbowed him in the ribs hard.

"Ass." She smiled.

"What you like mine too?" She just rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.

* * *

George, Callie, Burke and Cristina had all left and the only ones left lived in the house, except Addison. Derek and Meredith were talking amongst themselves and Izzie was sat crosslegged on the sofa, reading a medical journal.

Addison leant her head against Alex's chest, watching her ex-husband interacting with his new girlfriend. "Does it hurt?" Alex asked. "Seeing them together."

"No." Then she smiled. "No. It actually doesn't. I never thought it would stop hurting. I feel a bit sad, but mostly I am happy for them."

He smiled at her. "That's very mature for you, Addison Montgomery. What happened to Satan who pinned panties on a noticeboard?"

She blushed. "You knew about that?! Does everyone know?!"

He chuckled at her. "Relax, I saw you doing it but I'd say it's pretty obvious it was you." She continued to glare at him and he nudged her gently. "Don't be annoyed at me, you want to ask me a question?"

She shot him a small smile. "What's your favourite colour?

"Blue."

"Blue? Just blue? What kind of blue? Why?"

"I don't know. Scrub blue?"

"Attending scrubs or intern scrubs?"

"Attending and please don't ask me why, because I don't know!" He said exasperated.

She pouted at him and he just rolled his eyes. "Fine. You not going to ask me what mine is?"

"I already know yours Adds. It's red, bright red. You have those red glasses which are your favourite pair and your red silk shirt. Not to mention the red lipstick you always wear when your having a good day. I know you, Adds."

Addison looked at him smiling softly. "Yeah, you do."

* * *

"Alex!" Meredith called him over from where he was standing. "We are all going to Joe's tonight after work. You in?"

"Who's 'we all'?" Alex asked.

"Well, me, Izzie, Cristina and George. Callie's on call but Derek might join us later…here he is now!" She said as Derek walked over, reading some labs and gave her a quick kiss. "So Alex are you coming to Joe's?"

Alex opened his mouth to respond but Derek got there first, not even looking up from his labs. "He's probably busy with Addison tonight. You know what with her birthday and all."

Alex looked at him in shock. "Shepherd, Addison's birthday is today?"

Derek finally tore his gaze from what he was reading. "She didn't tell you? She always hated the idea of getting older. Typical Addison."

Alex just walked off without saying a word. "Oh, I would not want to be her right now." Meredith laughed.

Derek just smiled. "You'd be surprised."

* * *

Alex was on his way to meet (yell at) Addison when Bailey paged him 911 and he was scrubbing into an emergency appy. 2 hours later he was scrubbing out of the surgery, ready to make his way home, when he remembered Meredith's offer about Joe's. He was originally planning to go and find Addison but he thought if she didn't care enough to tell him about it, he wasn't going to track her down.

He walked into Joe's, the bell signalling his arrival. He saw Meredith and Cristina sat at the bar and headed over to them, sitting down and ordering a beer. "What did Addison say?" Meredith asked, leaning over Cristina to talk to him.

"What did Satan say about what? Cristina chimed in.

"Addison didn't tell Alex it was her birthday." Meredith said at the same time as Alex snapped. "Don't call her Satan."

"Ooh so Evil Spawn is pissed at Satan."

"Shut up, Crack Whore."

"Guys!" Meredith interrupted. "Alex, what did she say?"

"I don't know. I was on my way to find her when I got called into an appy. Haven't seen her."

"Well, Evil Spawn, your girlfriend is over there why don't you talk to her now?" Cristina pointed at the redhead in the corner.

"Not my girlfriend." Alex snapped but stood up and walked over to her anyway.

He slid into the seat opposite Addison, instead of next to her like he usually did. She looked up and smiled at him.

"Oh hey, I was hoping you'd be here. How was your day?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Addison frowned at him. "Tell you what?"

"That today's your birthday! Do you not see me as your friend? If you told me I would've done something nice, got you a present, something…but instead I had to find out about it from Derek Shepherd!" He snapped at her. She looked at him in silence for a second, before she burst out laughing. "It's not funny." He muttered.

"Sorry. I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't even think about it! It's been so long since anyone has cared about my birthday, I haven't even celebrated it for at least 5 years! Derek was always working. I just didn't think it was a big deal. And you're my best friend, you know that." She reached across and took his hand.

He looked up at her. "You're my best friend, Adds. Of course I care. I just want to make your birthday special, cause you matter to me and you deserve it. And it pisses me off that some people have made you feel otherwise."

Addison had tears in her eyes and squeezed his hand. "Well, I suppose you could buy me a birthday drink." She smiled at him.

He stood up and got her a vodka martini, holding it just out of her reach. "I'm still pissed at you. And I'm taking you out next weekend for your birthday and you can't get out of it."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

He smiled and placed the drink down, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Adds."

She smiled at him, ignoring how her cheek tingled where he kissed her. "Thank you, Alex."


	6. Music in May

**A/N: Hey guys, me again with more Addex goodness for those of us in 10 year denial. I'm not sure I like how this one turned out but please please let me know, I appreciate every review! x**

Alex walked up to where Addison was was standing at the nurse's station and placed her cup of coffee down in front of her as he leaned in to look at the chart in front of her, smiling as she took the cup and sipped it, automatically holding out the chart in a way that he could see it better.

"So, are you excited, Adds?" He whispered into her ear.

She leant back against his chest, and smiled at him. "Excited about what?"

"You know what, stop teasing. Your birthday surprise!"

She sighed. "Can you not just tell me what you've got planned?"

He smirked. "Nope. I'm picking you up at 10 tomorrow morning."

"How do I know what to wear though?" She whined.

He laughed and grabbed the chart from her. "Don't be a baby. Just wear what you're comfortable in." He started to walk off after picking up the rest of the charts.

"See you in an hour for our C-section, Karev."

* * *

The next day, Alex knocked on the door of Addison's hotel room at 10 exactly. She opened the door with a big smile. "I'm ready on time, are you proud?"

"Very." He said sarcastically. She was dressed in skinny jeans and converse with an oversized Columbia University hoodie, her hair hung in loose waves over her back.

She frowned at him staring at her and played with the bottom of her hoodie. "Do I look okay? You said comfortable, I know I am a bit of a state-"

"Adds, shut up. You look hot. Now are you ready?"

She blushed and walked out of the hotel room, taking his hand when offered as he lead her to his car. He opened the passenger door for her and then went round and got in behind the wheel. "So do I get to know where I'm going at last?"

He smirked at her. "Nope not yet, you just have to be patient. I know that's hard for you."

"I can be patient! I am a very patient woman, I'll have you know." He scoffed at her. "Don't be an ass."

Alex pulled up in a parking lot just over half an hour later. He went round and held the door open for her pulling her out of the car with a big smile on his face.

"Alex!" She looked round and a big smile spread onto her face. "You took me to a fair!"

"Well, it's not quite Disneyland." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "But it has rollercoasters, and a ferris wheel and corn dogs! All of your favourite things. Plus if we stay late enough there is fireworks! Do you, um, do you like it?"

"Alex, I love it! It's perfect." She was bouncing up and down like an excited child and then stopped to throw her arms around his neck so enthusiastically he was forced to take a step back. He grabbed her waist and gave her a twirl before setting her down and grabbing his hand. "Come on. I want to go on the bumper cars first!"

* * *

After going on several rides, Addison stopped and demanded Alex get her some candy floss. They sat on a bench and watched some kids playing opposite. Alex turned and looked at her, laughing as he saw the candy floss around her mouth.

"Alex, what?"

"If only everyone could see the great Addison Forbes Montgomery now."

She glared at him. "What, Karev?"

He leant in close and used his thumb to wipe the candy floss form round from his mouth. "You have some candy floss. Right. Here."

He was only inches from her face when he stroked his thumb across her lips. He leant forward and captured her lips with his, kissing her softly. He drew back and then turned red.

"I, um, sorry…I shouldn't-" He was cut off by her lips on his and her hands on the back of his neck pulling him closer to her.

"Don't you dare say you shouldn't have done that because I'd hate to kick your ass Alex Karev." She smiled at him though grabbing his hand with hers and pulling him up.

"Now come on, I want to go on that roller coaster! Then you can buy me a corn dog."

He pulled her to him gently, pressing another kiss on her lips, before letting himself be dragged by her across the fair.

* * *

Alex spent the whole day being dragged between rides and various stalls at the fair by an over enthusiastic Addison. Not that he was complaining as he hadn't seen her smile that much in the whole time he'd known her, he could barely keep his eyes off her.

She stopped talking with a sigh. "Alex. Stop staring at me."

He shook himself out of his daze and looked at her sheepishly. "Well, I can't help it. You're beautiful, Adds." She blushed and he pulled her to him and placed a long kiss to her lips.

He pulled away and she glared at him. "Don't think you can say cute crap and then expect me to forget that you weren't listening to me."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Fine, what were you saying?"

"I was saying that it's getting dark. Can you believe we've been here all day? And we haven't even been on the ferris wheel yet!" He sighed and grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. "Alex, what are you doing?"

"Taking you on the damn ferris wheel. High maintenance woman…" he muttered as she dragged her away.

As they waited in line for the ferris wheel, Alex wrapped his arms around his waist from behind and rested his head on her shoulder. "Ask me a question. I know you want to."

She sighed and rested her head against his. "What's your favourite dessert?"

"Banana pudding." He kissed her cheek. "But that's not what you wanted to ask."

"I like red velvet cake. But the good one with the cream cheese frosting. Not the crappy one you get in the hospital cafeteria."

"Addison." He scolded. "You're rambling. Now ask me what you actually want to."

She was saved from having to respond by them reaching the front of the queue and getting on the wheel. Alex took her hand in his and waited silently for her to talk, watching the lights of the fair as they started moving.

When they got to the top, she finally broke the silence. "It's beautiful up here, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "I can think of something more beautiful."

"What are we doing Alex? I know I sound like the crazy, desperate woman who can't even go a day- a perfect day- without asking 'what we are', but hey, I am crazy and desperate and I _cannot_ be hurt again. So, what are we?"

He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her face. "Adds, you are not desperate but I'm not going to argue with you about the crazy." She glared at him. "Seriously, you're my best friend, you've been my best friend for almost 5 months now. I think you're amazing: you're smart, you're caring, you're funny and you're beautiful. I wanted to kiss you and you wanted me to kiss you too. And I want to do it again and again and again. But it's up to you what we are. I can't imagine you not being in my life, so whatever you want I will do."

"Alex." She whispered.

"There's just one thing, I want to say. And this is going to be hard for me as you know I don't do all that feelings crap. It's just… Adds, the thought of anyone hurting you makes me so angry and I never ever want to hurt you because I love you." He was staring at his lap afraid to meet her eyes at the end.

"Alex, look at me." He reluctantly met her eyes and she reached her hand up and stroked her fingers across his face. "Alex, I, um, I love you too.'

A slow smile spread across his face and he leaned in to kiss her when the ferris wheel started moving causing him to headbutt her. "Ow. Crap." she muttered.

He started to apologise but she just smiled and grabbed his face and kissed him as the ride made its way back to the ground.

* * *

After the fair, nothing really changes between the two of them. Except everything does. Alex still brings her a vanilla latte everyday but when he hands it to her, their hands brush against each other and she smiles at the feeling she gets. They still grab lunch together at the deli, but they kiss goodbye before going back to work. When Addison has a bad day, Alex still offers to do her post-ops but with a squeeze of the shoulder and an 'I love you' whispered in her ear.

A week after the fair, Addison walked in to find Alex once again in her chair in her office. She sighed and rolled her eyes, before leaning down to kiss him.

"How many times am I going have to tell you to move your ass out of my chair?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

He just laughed and pulled her down onto his lap, giving her a quick kiss as she grumbled. "You love it."

She rolled her eyes and hit his chest lightly. "Nope, I love you." She leant against his chest, tipping her head back and kissing his jaw. "What did you want then?"

"I came to ask you on a date."

"A date?" She looked confused.

He smirked. "You know it's this thing some couples do, normally some dinner and wine, a bit of making out…"

"Don't be an ass."

"Addison, will you go on a date with me tonight or not?"

"Yes, Alex, I'll go on a date with you. Now I need to get to work and so do you." She leant in to give him one last quick kiss, which quickly turned to more as he fisted his hand in her hair and ran his tongue across her lips for entry. She moaned into his mouth as his tongue met hers. She pulled away and jumped off his lap when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in!" She called as she desperately tried to comb through her hair and straightened her skirt. "Get up!" She hissed at him as the door opened.

He frowned and stood up, moving his way round the desk as Callie walked in.

"Oh, sorry! Am I interrupting something?" Callie asked as she looked between them.

"Nope, nothing, I was just leaving. See you later Dr Torres, Dr Montgomery." Alex nodded at them as he walked out.

Callie raised her eyebrows at Addison. "Dr Montgomery? What happened to 'Adds'? Are you and Young Hot Intern Boy having a fight?"

"Young Hot Intern Boy? Really Callie? Anyway we're not having a fight, we're at work, he's being professional!"

Callie scoffed. "Please, Manhattan, like that has stopped you two before! What happened? Did you finally jump his bones? Ooh, was he bad in bed, is that why it's awkward?"

"Callie! I have not had sex with Alex and we are not arguing! Now can we drop it?" Addison snapped.

Callie frowned. "Um, yeah, sure. Anyway, I just came in as I want a consult on one of my post-op patients. 24 weeks pregnant. You free?"

"Yeah, give me 5 minutes, I'll be right there."

* * *

Addison didn't see Alex again all day but just as she was about to leave, she saw him walking towards the door.

"Alex." She called as she grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

He froze and turned to her. "What?"

She saw the look on his face and let go of his arm, looking down at her feet. "I was just going to ask you if we were still on for tonight… our date?"

He softened when he saw the hurt look on her face. "Yeah, Adds, I'll pick you up at 8?"

She gave him a small smile. "Okay. I, um, I'm looking forward to it."

"Yeah, me too." He smiled back.

* * *

Alex knocked on Addison's hotel room and waited for her anxiously. Addison opened the door and he just stared at her. She was wearing a knee length tight-fitting red dress with a deep v-neck line, matching red lipstick with her hair hanging in loose curls.

"Alex? Earth to Alex?" She waved her hand in front of his face before noticing the flowers in his hand and smiled. "Are those for me?"

"Sorry, what?" He shook his head, to snap out of his daze. "You look, um, wow. You look amazing…absolutely beautiful."

She blushed and looked up at him. "The flowers, Alex?"

"Oh right." He thrust the flowers at her. "These are my 'sorry for being an ass' flowers."

She smirked. "Romantic." He raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean, thank you. They're beautiful. And red, my favourite!" She winked. "Come in while I put these in water."

She put the flowers in the sink and filled it up with water, making a mental note to ask at the front desk to ask for a vase later tonight. She leant back against the sink waiting for it to fill. "So, are you going to tell me why you were an ass?"

"Are you ashamed to be with me?" Alex blurted.

Addison looked up in shock and walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his necking looking him in the eye.

"No, Alex, no. I am not ashamed of you. I could never be ashamed of you. I am in love with you, you're handsome and funny, you're so good with the babies and you are so loyal to everyone you care about. And you make me feel special. It has been so long since I have felt special and you make me feel like I am a good person. I am not ashamed of you."

He nodded. "But you don't want people to know?"

She sighed. "I don't. But not because I am not proud to say that you're my boyfriend. Because my personal life has been round the hospital so much this last year and people have just started to like me and take me seriously as a professional. I don't want them to say anything and taint what we have. Because you are perfect and we are good. Do you get it?"

He sighed and leant forwards a couple of inches to capture her lips with his. "If that's what you want, then we'll keep it to ourselves for now. Because I love you too." He pulled back. "Now, date time!"

* * *

"This place is nice." Addison said as they walk into a small Italian restaurant.

Alex nudged her playfully. "No need to seem so surprised! I can do nice."

She smirked at him. "I know you can, very nice."

They sat on a small table by the window and ordered some wine. "You better not order a damn salad, after I took you to a nice restaurant."

She kicked him under the table and smirked. "Don't be an ass. You're such a romantic."

He rubbed his legs and grumbled. "I was serious!"

"Well, I'll have you know that I was going to have the seafood pasta but now the salad looks very tempting…"

"Don't be stubborn."

She tipped her head back and laughed at him, and he couldn't help but smile at her carefree look. "I am always stubborn, you know me. And you love it."

He reached across and grabbed her hand. "I know, you are very stubborn. And I love you, stubborn and all. But get the pasta please."

"Relax Alex. I'm going to get the pasta and you are going to get the lasagne, as I hear it's amazing here and it's your favourite." He glared at her and she laughed before settling into easy conversation with him.

They finished their meal and the waiter came over to offer them dessert menus but Alex turned him away and asked for the check.

"Hey!" Addison said as the waiter walked away. "I wanted dessert!" She pouted.

He chuckled and leant to place a kiss on her lips. "You're adorable. And I have other plans for dessert."

He paid for the bill despite Addison's protests and stood up, grabbing her hand as they walked out of the restaurant, pulling her up the road.

She laughed and let herself be dragged up the road by him. "What are these plans then Alex?"

He stopped in front of a run down looking diner and she looked at him in shock. "This place is not so nice."

He just rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, don't be so snobby. This place does the best desserts in Seattle. They sell red velvet cake."

"Red velvet? You do know me." She smiled and pulled him towards her, winding her arms around his neck. She kissed him firmly and he reached up and tangled his hands in her hair. She moaned into his mouth and pushed him against the wall, pulling away breathless.

He looked at her. "You keep going like that, you are not going to get your red velvet cake."

She fluttered her eyelashes at him. "We can always get dessert tomorrow…" She smirked.

"Are you saying…"

She pulled his hand and pulled him back to his car. "Come back to my hotel room with me." He wrapped his arm around her waist, picking her up and carrying her towards his car, laughing as she squealed and protested.

* * *

Later that night, she lay next to Alex in bed. She rolled over, resting her head on his bare chest and tangling her legs with his. He stroked his hand through her hair and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"What's your worst fear?" She mumbled into his chest.

He chuckled sleepily. "Do you ever shut up?"

"Nope. Now answer the question."

"I don't like enclosed spaces."

She smiled into his chest. "I don't like the dark." She whispered.

He was silent for a moment. "Do you want me to put the lamp on?"

"No, I'm fine. I don't like being alone in the dark."

He kissed her head again and wrapped his arms tight around her. "I'm not going anywhere. Now, get some sleep."

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too."


	7. Nothing Happens in June

**A/N: Thank you for those who read and reviewed, I appreciate it! So here's chapter 7, Alex and Addison are officially a thing! Not sure how I feel about this one, not much really happens...let me know what you guys think though! x**

They fell into an easy routine of a relationship, maintaining their professional and friendly interaction at work, no one being any wiser. No one gave them a second look when they ate lunch or spent time together.

Addison walked up one day to where Alex was studying and dropped a coffee in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at her and took it. "What?" She asked. "You always buy me coffee, I thought I should return the favour. Don't get used to it though, that line at the cart is long, I don't know how you stand in it everyday."

He shrugged. "Well, you're worth it."

She blushed. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"So, did you hear about the hospital's fundraising gala? Are you going?"

He frowned. "Are you asking me to go with you? Or do you just want me to be there so you have someone to chat with?"

"We could go together as friends?" She ventured hesitantly.

"You know what I want, Addison. I want us. I want to go with the most beautiful woman in the world and I want everyone to know that you are mine. So, no, Addison, I do not want to go as friends."

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Alex, we've talked about this, you know how I feel."

"Yes, Addison, we talked when we first started dating. But we've been together a month now. I love you and we are not a new, fumbling couple. The people we are hiding this from: Mer, Iz…even Yang and O'Malley, they are my _family_. As much as I hate to admit it, they are all I have and I hate lying to them. So maybe how _I_ feel is that I want to go to a damn party with my girlfriend."

Addison's pager beeped. "I cannot deal with this right now, Alex. I have to go." She walked off leaving a furious Alex behind.

"What was that about? Lover's spat?" Meredith flopped down on the chair next to him.

"Shut up Mer. Not now." He snapped at her, before sighing. "Sorry, I'm just really stressed about these intern exams and the studying."

"So come to Joe's with us tonight. We're having a tequila and revision party. Last minute cram before the big day tomorrow. It'll be fun." Alex pulled a face. "Okay, not fun but there will be alcohol to numb the pain."

Alex hesitated, he was meant to be going round Addison's that evening to study but after the fight he wasn't so sure he wanted to see her. "Yeah, I'll be there after my shift."

"Okay, see you there." Meredith stood up to leave but turned back just before she walked off. "Alex, you know you can talk to me anytime? I can't promise I'd be too good on the advice front but I'd give it a go."

He nodded his thanks as she walked away, turning back to the books in front of him.

* * *

"Alex!" Addison called as she saw him walking into the hospital. She ran in her heels to catch with him. "You were supposed to come round last night but you didn't, are you okay?"

He sighed. "No, Addison, I am not okay. I don't know how to do this. How to be with you when you don't seem to want to be with me. And I shouldn't be thinking about this today. I have my intern exams, these exams decide my whole future and my whole focus needs to be in them, not trying to figure out whether or not my girlfriend is ashamed to be with me, okay?"

She ran her hand through her hair. "Look, Alex I just-" She cut off when she saw the look on his face, choosing instead to take his hand and squeezed it. "Just good luck today. Not that you need it, you're amazing. I love you."

He squeezed her hand before dropping it and walking away.

* * *

The intern exams went well. Well as well as he thought they could. Alex managed to distract himself from thinking about his potentially failing relationship for long enough to focus on his test. He was confident about the test, he feels like he'll be around for a few more years at least.

He spent the next two weeks leading up to the gala avoiding Addison. He didn't see her except from work and even then he didn't speak to her unless absolutely necessary. He knew he had to talk to her at some point but he was scared to, just in case they were really over as he feared.

Alex sat in the locker room with the other interns, waiting for their results, not really listening to what they were saying when he noticed the attention was on him. "What?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Cristina asked what was going on with you and Dr Montgomery?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, I said 'why are Evil Spawn and Satan having a catfight?' but you know that's just semantics."

"Well, Alex?"

He sighed, not really wanting to get into it with them so chose to play dumb. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on?"

"Alex, we're not stupid. You and Addison have fallen out, you've spent everyday with us for the last 2 weeks." Meredith said.

Izzie joined in. "Look Alex, you practically abandoned us for her. So we notice when you decide we're good enough to spend time with all of a sudden."

Meredith hit Izzie on the arm. "What she's trying to say is that we know we haven't been the most welcoming towards her but we're your family and we know something's up. And she's your friend so we're here for you."

"Nothing's going on." Alex muttered.

"Callie has been out with Addison almost every day for 2 weeks. I've been ditched. So something happened between the two of you and I'd love for you to sort it out so I get my girlfriend back."

"Nothing's going on." Alex repeated and was saved from having to answer by a woman walking in holding 5 envelopes.

"Test results." Izzie said nervously as she took the envelope the woman handed her. "I don't think I can look."

They all rip open their envelopes in silence. "I passed." Meredith said.

"Me too!" Izzie said.

George looked relieved. "I did it."

"Passed easily. Piece of cake." Cristina said, chucking her results down on the bench.

"Aced it." Alex said.

They looked at each other and grinned. Before they were screaming and hugging and celebrating. "We did it!"

They laughed in relief. "Thank God." Meredith breathed. "I'm actually looking forward to this gala now, we can celebrate with lots and lots of alcohol. Free bar! I need to go and get ready."

They all left the locker room, laughing to themselves, heading back to Meredith's to get ready. Alex smiled along with them, but couldn't help but feel a little sad that Addison wasn't with him to celebrate.

* * *

The interns stood gathered around the bar at the gala, drinking their champagne as they laughed together, celebrating surviving their intern year. Alex couldn't help but scan the room for the red headed attending as shifted uncomfortably in his tux, pulling awkwardly at his bow tie.

"This isn't us, is it?" Meredith laughed, as she readjusted her dress, Cristina fidgeted in her heels and George nervously gulped his champagne.

Cristina snorted. "Do you think the bar does tequila?"

Two tequila shots each later and they were all much more relaxed. Alex was still fiddling with his bow tie awkwardly to the point that Izzie stepped in and loosened it slightly.

Addison walked in to the gala wearing a floor length backless wine red dress with a plunging neckline. She wore her hair in loose waves and was wearing 4 inch heels to give her extra confidence. She spent a small fortune on her outfit for tonight, far more than even she would normally consider spending but she wanted to look, and feel, perfect tonight.

She stepped in and smiled in greeting to someone from the hospital who offered her a hello. Her eyes automatically scanned the room, searching for a certain intern. _Her_ intern. She saw Bailey and Callie chatting at one end of the bar, standing next to Mark, Derek and Preston who surprisingly didn't look ready to kill each other. She froze when she saw him standing with the other interns at the other end of the bar, while Izzie's hands were on him, fixing his tie.

She missed him. So much. And looking at him now, in his tux with another woman's hands on him, she couldn't help but realise how stupid she'd been. She started walking over to him slowly, never taking her eyes of him.

She stalked up to him and pushed Izzie's hands away. He looked up at her in shock but she simply grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him, hard, with everything she had, not caring who was watching. She pulled away breathless, resting her forehead against his.

"What was that for?" He whispered.

"It was sorry for being an ass." He smirked at her. "I realised I just wanted to go to a damn party with my boyfriend."

He leaned and kissed her lips softly. "I love you. Even though you were an ass."

She laughed softly. "I love you too."

They pulled away from each other, his arms still loosely wrapped around her, as they notice the stares from the people around them. Izzie was looking at them with something that looked like jealousy, Cristina looked bored, George just looked confused and Meredith had a small smile on her face. Addison shifted awkwardly but couldn't stop the smile on her face.

Before she knew what was happening, she was pushed away from Alex as Meredith came in for a hug. "I would say I told you so but I'm going to settle for the more mature 'I'm happy for you'" She said softly to Alex, before surprising everyone by turning and hugging Addison.

"Erm, Dr Grey?" Addison said nervously.

"It's Meredith. And if you hurt Alex, I will hunt you down and kick your ass. Just saying."

Alex had ordered her a vodka martini, and she was content to watch Alex interact with his friends with a smile while she leant into the arm he had round her waist. She looked up to see Derek, Mark, Callie and Miranda heading towards them, all of them looking pissed.

She nudged Alex and pointed in the direction of them. "Incoming. There's still time to run if you want?" She said nervously.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "I'm not going anywhere ever, Adds." He gave a wary look at them getting closer. "I might regret not running in a minute though."

"Addison, what do you think you're doing?" Derek snapped.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, you know Derek, I saw you had your hot young intern and I just had to get a hot young intern of my own." She said sarcastically as everyone else snickered.

"Oh, you really are Satan, you know that Addison?"

"Grow up Derek. What does it look like I'm doing? I'm in a relationship with Alex and I'm happy so get over yourself."

Alex squeezed her hip reassuringly. Derek just looked at her furiously, while Mark remained silent with a mixture of anger and hurt on his face. Miranda looked at her, with her arms crossed.

"Addison Montgomery, what did I say to you about keeping your knees closed?"

Addison blushed. "Miranda!" She hissed at her.

"Relax, if you're happy, I'm happy for you. Did it have to be my intern though?" She sighed and turned and glared at Alex. "Karev, if you so much as think about hurting this woman I'll make your life a living Hell."

Karev gulped nervously. "I won't. I love her."

"I'm pissed you didn't tell me, Manhattan."

Addison laughed. "You'll get over it. Now if you're all done now, I'm going to go and dance with my boyfriend." She drained the rest of her drink and grabbed Alex's hand, pulling him to the dance floor.

He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder, as they swayed to the song. "They haven't scared you off, have they?"

"Nothing could scare me away from you, Adds."

She smiled at him. "Good." They danced in silence for a couple of songs.

She decided to break the silence. "What's your happiest memory?"

He though for a few minutes. "The day of the fish market crash, and there was that pregnant woman- Janelle, I think?- I was on Sloan's service. She was pregnant and didn't want to call the baby's father and I spoke to her, I can't really remember what I said. But at the end of the day, you came up to me and told me I was 'surprising' and you said to me 'You're a decent guy, Alex. I'd hate to see Sloan beat that out of you.'. I just felt a rush of happiness. Because for the first time it felt like someone actually believed in me. I felt like I could do this, I could talk to patients, I could be an amazing surgeon and maybe even a good person. And that feeling of hope was amazing."

She had tears in her eyes as he finished. "Really?"

He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Really. Now how about you?"

She was quiet for a moment. "For a long time I was drowning. I had forgotten who I was, what it felt like to be me. Then there was this guy and he picked me up. Figuratively and literally. He picked me up and span me round in the rain just to get me to smile. And for the first time in so long, I felt truly happy."

He looked at her in amazement and she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Anyway, I hear congratulations on your intern exams are in order, well done. I can think of several ways we can celebrate later." She smirked at him, as she brushed her hips against him.

"You have a wild side, Dr Montgomery. I like it."

"You have no idea." She smirked. "Want to get out of here?"

They took a cab back to Meredith's house as it was closer, their kisses getting more heated in the back after their 2 weeks apart. They pulled up outside the house and Alex gave a handful of bills to the driver, before following her up the stairs, kissing her as they went.

"God, I've missed you." He muttered between kisses.

* * *

Addison opened her eyes and smiled as she looked in Alex's eyes. She rolled onto him and buried her face in his chest. "Are you watching me sleep?" She mumbled.

He looked at her sheepishly. "I can't help it. You are so beautiful."

"Creep." She muttered but smiled into his chest. "Good job, I love you."

"I love you too." He chuckled as heard her stomach rumble. "Come on you, let's get you some breakfast."

They got out of bed and made their way downstairs, Addison wearing an oversized t-shirt of Alex's and some boxer shorts. They walked into the kitchen, hand in hand, laughing. They dodged around Meredith, Derek and Izzie who had all fallen quiet when they walked in. Alex pulled down 2 mugs and filled them with coffee, grabbing some vanilla creamer from the fridge for Addison. He placed them on the table and they sat down, helping themselves to the stack of pancakes in the middle of the table.

They ate in silence happily for a while before Addison got bored of everyone looking away when she looked at them and attempted conversation. Alex noticed this and finally snapped.

"What is wrong with you people? You are basically my family, can you not even look at my girlfriend? Some friends…"

Izzie blushed and looked down. "Alex, it's not that, it's just that… you see, Dr Montgomery…"

Meredith sighed and looked at him. "Look it's just that Addison, um, Addison's loud. Very loud."

Addison turned bright red and banged her head on the table as Alex started laughing. "Oh my God."

"So we came back last night and Addison was very loud. And I love that you're happy and go for it, sex-wise, have all the sex you want. It's just that Addison, you're mine and Izzie's boss and we could probably have gotten through our residency without knowing how you sound when you moan in pleasure."

Addison groaned and banged her head again. "Oh my God, Meredith stop." Alex was laughing so hard he was bent double in his chair.

"And what's his problem?" Alex asked between laughs, pointing towards Derek, who hadn't even looked up from where he was glaring at his newspaper.

Meredith laughed. "Oh, him? He's just pissed that you're banging his ex-wife."

"I am never moving from this spot again." Addison grumbled as Alex kept laughing at her.

Alex leant down and whispered into her ear. "I love you, Adds. It's not that bad, you're a big girl, you'll get over it. You know, I could help out with that…"

Addison sat up, her face still the same colour as her hair. She looked him dead in the eyes. "Alex, I am never having sex in this house again." He just burst out laughing all over again. "Ass."


	8. Cold Day in July

**A/N: I'm glad that you guys like my story and I love the reviews! No.8 in the saga of Alex and Adds. I'm going to be super ambitious and cross my fingers for 3 reviews on this chapter rather than the usual 2 but I still appreciate all the feedback I get! Only 6 more chapters after this one, much love Addex people x**

Alex handed a coffee to Addison and dropped a kiss on her cheek as she read over a chart and she looked up and smiled at him. "You're not on my service today."

"I had a few minutes before surgery with Shepherd, and I wanted to see my girlfriend quickly."

She pulled a face. "You're cute. It's sickening."

He elbowed her. "You're mean. Anyway, what are you doing on the 4th July?"

She turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. "Probably whatever you're doing."

He chuckled at that. "Well, Shepherd is throwing a 4th July BBQ up by the trailer for everyone and invited us. Wondered if you want to go or if you haven't finished running in the opposite direction when you see them yet?"

"Shut up, I am embarrassed!" She hissed as he just laughed again. "Wait, Derek invited us?"

"I think it is his idea of an olive branch. Well, Mer's idea of an olive branch that she forced on him. But still, I think it will be nice."

She sighed. "Okay then. But they bring up one comment about sex and I'm out of there."

He grinned. "Deal."

* * *

Alex walked into Addison's office as his shift ends, knowing hers finished half hour ago. "You ready to go?" He asked.

She looked up from the paperwork she was doing and smiled. "Where are we going?"

"To the supermarket. Meredith and Shepherd are going to be stuck in surgery so I said we'd grab all the stuff for the BBQ tomorrow."

"We're going to the supermarket to buy enough food for like 12 people? That's going to take forever, I can't walk round in heels for that long!"

He rolled his eyes. "Relax, Adds we'll stop at the hotel first so you can get changed. And Shepherd gave me his credit card. And a list. As he knows you are incapable of cooking and therefore shopping."

"I can cook!" She huffed.

"Adds, I love you but you can't cook for shit. You burnt toast the other day." He laughed.

She shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. I'm ready, let's go."

She stood up and grabbed her coat and bag from the couch and made to grab the door handle, but was stopped by Alex's arms around her waist and his lips on her neck. "Alex…" She whined.

"You are not allowed to be annoyed at me, Adds." He kept trailing kisses up her neck, stopping to nibble on a spot behind her ear. She let out a moan and he smirked. "I knew you weren't annoyed at me."

"I'm trying to be, but you keep distracting me." She pouted and rolled her eyes. "Now lets go to the store."

She made another attempt to leave but was stopped by his hand tugging her back. "Alex, what?!"

He placed a kiss softly on her lips. "I love you, crazy woman."

"I love you, too. Now we need to go, otherwise we'll be shopping until midnight!" She gave him one last quick kiss and pulled him through the door and out of the hospital.

* * *

Addison was stood in the store, dressed in her Columbia hoodie and skinny jeans, examining two different marinades and trying to decide which one is the best one. She felt Alex's eyes on her and looked up at him over her glasses and noticed him smiling at her.

"What?" She asked, smiling at him suspiciously.

He shook his head at her while smiling. "Nothing." He came over and took the bottles out of her hand, placing them both in the cart before resting his hands on her hips. "I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world."

A small smile spread across her face. "I look like crap." She pushed her glasses on her head and gestured at her hoodie.

He smiled and pushed her hair behind her ear. "You are so beautiful. You are perfect like this, you should dress like it more often."

She gave him a half smirk and raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, you saying I don't look good normally?"

She let out a light laugh at his panicked expression and he rolled his eyes when he realised she was messing with him. "I mean, when you are like this, you're not Addison Forbes Montgomery, you're just my Adds. You're beautiful."

She blushed the same colour as her hair and leant forwards, brushing her lips across his softly. She pulled back and peered down at the list again. "I think we're almost done! Just need to get the alcohol."

He wrapped his arm around her waist and dropped a kiss on her head, before reaching out and taking the shopping cart. "Lead the way, Adds."

* * *

"Alex, thank God you're here, we need a hand!" Meredith called as Addison and Alex walked up hand in hand and joined the group gathered by the trailer.

He leant in and accepted her hug and kiss on the cheek. "That wasn't the deal, Mer. We went shopping so now we get to drink and put our feet up."

Addison hit him on the chest. "Alex, don't be an ass."

Meredith sighed. "No, he's right. We did have a deal, you guys saved the day last night. Beers are over by Derek. Go help yourselves."

Addison and Alex wandered over to where Derek was standing at the grill, with a mountain of uncooked food next to him. "You are looking a little bit out of your depth, Derek."

He looked up at them and rolled his eyes. "Sarcastic Satan. My favourite, so nice of you to join us."

Alex opened his mouth to say something but stopped when Addison put a hand on his arm. "Want some help?"

Derek raised his eyebrows. "From you? Addie, you can't even make toast."

She just chuckled and grabbed the beer that Alex held out for her. "Whatever, Derek. Don't say I didn't offer!"

They walked away and Alex saw Izzie struggling with the fold out chairs. "Adds, I'm going to go to help Iz, are you alright here?"

She laughed and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm a big girl, Alex. I don't need a babysitter, I'll be fine, go!"

"Fine." He gave her another kiss then headed off.

Addison stood watching Alex as he set up all the chairs when she heard someone come up behind her.

"Uh, you know those cartoons where there's a bear or whatever and it's starving. And it looks at a table and the table turns into this delicious cooked turkey with like lines of delciousness coming off it."

"Callie, I was not looking at him like that. I am a respectable surgeon."

Callie just laughed. "Oh honey, world class baby doctor you may be but you are in love and drooling over Young Hot Intern Boy."

She just shook her head and smiled. "God, I am! I'm like a puppy staring at a chew toy. What is wrong with me?!"

"It's cute, Manhattan. It's nice seeing you smiling and happy."

Addison smirked. "It's a shock isn't it? Where has depressed McVomit gone?"

"Actually, it's a little _sickening…_ " Callie just cackled as she groaned and downed the rest of her beer.

Callie watched as her expression turned apprehensive as she eyed Izzie and Meredith. "You're still finding it awkward with the weird and judgy friends?" She asked surprised.

"No. Yes. No."

Callie laughed. "Which one is it?"

"We were getting on better, but then…" She trailed off, turning red, until Callie prompted her. "But then I stayed over at Meredith's and they may have heard me having very hot, very _loud_ sex all night…"

Callie doubled over laughing. "Oh honey, I just love being your friend."

* * *

Derek was on the phone to a resident about a case so Meredith and Cristina had volunteered to take over the barbecuing temporarily.

"That doesn't look right. Are the flames meant to be that high? I think you're doing it wrong."

"Mer, we're surgeons. We can handle a barbecue. Besides Evil Spawn is a guy and he's supervising. He'd tell us if we were doing it wrong." Cristina said as she poked one of the burgers suspiciously.

Meredith looked over at Alex, who was sipping his beer, looking over at where Addison was laughing with Callie and Bailey. "Alex wouldn't notice if one of _us_ caught fire at the moment."

Cristina reached around and hit the back of Alex's head. "Evil Spawn stop staring at Satan and help us not give the hospital food poisoning."

Alex glared at her. "Shut it Crack Whore, you're just jealous."

Cristina opened her mouth to retort when she was stopped by someone clearing their throat.

"Chief, you're here!" Meredith smiled at him.

He nodded to her and glanced wearily at the barbecue. "I, um, I think you're doing that wrong. Karev, a word."

Alex looked at Meredith and Cristina panicked as Richard walked away and they just shrugged as he reluctantly followed.

"Er, Chief, what's this about?" Alex asked nervously.

"This is about you sleeping with one of my attendings."

Alex looked at him in shock. "Oh."

"Yes, Karev. Oh, indeed." Richard crossed his arms. "Now as your boss, I don't think I need to tell you how highly inappropriate that is and how if I get a single mention that you two act anything short of professional in the hospital, I will not hesitate to reprimand you."

"No, sir. Professional, of course."

"And as someone who views Addison like a daughter, I don't think I need to tell you that if you do anything, _at all_ , to hurt her, I will make your life not worth living, understood?"

"Understood, sir. But I do need to tell you, Chief, that I love Addison, I'd do anything for her and I would never intentionally hurt her."

"Good to know." Richard held his hand out to Alex, which he took before quickly making his way back over to his friends.

* * *

Alex walked up behind Addison, where she was listening to Callie and George arguing over something Izzie said. He wrapped his arms around her waist, feeling her tense and then relax into him, tipping her head back onto his shoulder and smiling up at him.

"Hey." She whispered, smiling at him and giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "Where have you been?"

He rested his chin on her shoulder. "I was being threatened by Chief Webber."

"What?!" Addison pulled away from him in shock as he chuckled.

"Relax, he was just giving me the whole 'Addison is like a daughter to me, you hurt her I'll kill you' speech."

Addison laughed at that, settling back in his arms. "He'd have to get in line. I'd kill you first."

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "And that is one of the many reasons why I love you."

"Many reasons, huh?" She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow at him.

He trailed kisses down her neck, brushing his fingers down her side. "Many. Many. Reasons." He said in between kisses.

She giggled and squirmed in his arms. "Alex, stop it. It tickles!"

"I have to agree with, Dr Montgomery. Stop it, Evil Spawn, you make me want to vomit." Cristina called from where they all were beginning to sit on the foldaway chairs, around the campfire they had started.

"Bite me, Yang." Alex snapped back.

Addison elbowed him in the stomach. "Be nice." She hissed as she led him over to one of the chairs.

"Whipped." Cristina coughed.

Addison laughed as she sat on his lap and kissed his cheek. "Yang, you're just jealous Preston doesn't listen to you."

Meredith, Callie and Bailey snorted while Cristina looked indignant. "You know, I think me and you might actually get on Addison."

"You're supposed to be on my side, Mer." Cristina whined as everyone just laughed at them.

Addison let out a manic laugh as she took a swig of her beer, causing George to look at her alarmed from the seat next to her. "What can I say, I have a _sparkling_ personality." She winked at George causing him to blush and shift uncomfortably.

"Addison Montgomery, stop scaring my ex-interns. Only I can do that." Bailey mock-glared at her.

"Come on, Adds. Stop flirting and scaring Bambi, Torres scares him enough." Alex smirked as dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

Addison just rolled her eyes and turned to George. "Sorry O'Malley, I'll stop it. You don't need to be nervous, I'm a nice person, I don't bite." She smirked and looked sideways at him. "Unless you want me too."

George turned bright red and started sputtering as the group laughed and several people say 'Addison' in shock.

Alex rolled his eyes and kissed his girlfriend, taking the beer from her hand. "No more for you, I'm cutting you off."

She grinned at him. "He's just such an easy target. And I am Satan, after all." He just shook his head at her as he leant forward to kiss her again.

* * *

"She look happy to you?" Mark leant over to where Derek was talking to Meredith.

"What did I say about talking to me?" Derek snapped but was stopped by Meredith's hand on his arm.

"Derek, just answer him."

He looked at the expression on Mark's face as he watched Addison laughing at something Alex said, a smile on her face as she stole kisses from him, while he wrapped a blanket over her shoulders and rubbed her arms.

"She's happy, happier than I've seen her in years." Derek's expression softened. "You really loved her?"

Mark just swallowed. "I think so."

"He loves her too, you know."

Mark nodded slowly. "She could never be that happy with me."

Derek looked at Meredith for help and she just shrugged and waved in his direction. Derek sighed. "Do you want to maybe grab a beer after work next week?"

Mark tore his gaze away from Addison and smiled at him. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "She's moved on. We should too."

* * *

Addison rounded the corner in the hospital, reading a chart, when she ran straight into a hard chest and went falling to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She huffed as she looked up. "Oh, Alex it's you."

He knelt down beside her and pulled her into a sitting position. "I think you should be the one looking where you're going." He chuckled and kissed her forehead, pulling back panicked when he saw her wince in pain. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "Yeah, yeah. I just hurt my ankle when I went down."

He looked at her ankle worried, pressing it gently, pulling back when she hissed in pain. "It's your damn heels."

She rolled her eyes at him, protesting when he picked her up. "Alex, we're at work." She hissed, hitting him on the chest.

"Shut up, Adds. You can't walk on this ankle. I'm getting Torres to come look at it."

"It's just a twisted ankle." She muttered.

Alex glared at her. "Just let me look after you and get it checked out. For me."

"Fine." She huffed as she reluctantly linked her arms around his neck. He walked to the nearest bed and dropped her down on it. "Alex!"

He smirked. "What? You're heavy!"

"Shut it, Karev." She hissed.

"I've paged Torres. She should be here soon." He sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped an arm around her and she opened her mouth to speak. "I have nowhere else to be before you say that. Nowhere but with my girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes but leant over and kissed him anyway. "I love you." She murmured against him.

"Okay, so if you just paged me here to watch you guys make out, Karev, you have more issues than I thought."

Alex sighed as he pulled away from Addison and turned to face Callie. "I need a consult. Someone had her head in a chart and insists on wearing 4 inch heels and ran into me. Her ankle's sore, just wanted you to check it out."

Addison rolled her eyes. "It's just a twist, Cal. It's fine."

Callie sighed. "Well how about you let the ortho genius decide if everything is fine. Let me look at that ankle."

She put some gloves on and examined the ankle, pressing gently on the swollen tissue. "Ow, jeez Cal, are you trying to cause me pain?"

"Well, it looks like a bad sprain but I want to do an x-ray just to be sure."

"You've got to be freaking kidding me." Addison threw herself back onto the bed.

Alex chuckled and gave her a kiss. "Maybe that will teach you not to walk and read at the same time."

"I'll get an intern to do the x-ray, then I'll come back later. Keep off of it for now and take off those damn heels. You won't be wearing those for a while, honey."

She thanked Callie and sat up on the bed with Alex, with his arms wrapped around her. "I'm sorry for knocking you over." He murmured into her hair.

She twisted in his arms and gave him a kiss, rubbing her hands up and down his arms. "Hey, it wasn't your fault. You were right, I wasn't looking where I was going. And it's just a sprain. I'll be fine." Alex's pager went off. "You should get that." He opened his mouth to protest but she stopped him with a kiss. "I'll be fine, I'm a big girl. Now go and answer your page."

He kissed her one last time before leaving and she settled back on the bed with a sigh.

* * *

Alex blinked open his eyes to see Addison's face hovering a few inches away, grinning. He flipped them over so he was laying on top, trailing kisses lazily down her neck. "Are you trying to scare me to death?" He muttered.

"I'm sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "It's just do you know, what today is?"

He saw her excited face and decided to feign ignorance, pretending to think. "Today? No idea…"

She shoved his shoulder. "Alex." She whined and flipped them again so she was straddling him, bouncing up and down excitedly. "It's surgery day! No more stupid paperwork days or stupid sprained ankles. I am going to do some serious surgery!"

He smirked up at her, grabbing her and pulling her in for a deep kiss, pulling away when she let out a moan. "Serious surgery, huh? Do you think we can have some serious sex now?" He whispered huskily in her ear, grinning as she pinned him to the bed and kissed him.

An hour later they were both running down the stairs fixing their clothing as Izzie was yelling at them from the front door. "Come on! We are going to be late."

They climbed into Addison's car and Izzie and Meredith slid into the backseat. They both looked at each other and giggled before looking at Addison. She twisted around in her seat to glare at them. "You say one single word and you are out of this car and driving yourself."

Izzie mimed sealing her lips as Meredith smirked at her. "Okay, I was just going to say you might want to cover up that hickey before you see patients."

Addison spun round to look in the rear view mirror, blushing furiously as Alex doubled over in the passenger seat laughing. She leant over the centre console and started hitting him repeatedly.

"Not that I'm not happy to see Alex being beat up, but we're still going to be late!"

"Right." Addison muttered as she pulled off the drive and drove towards the hospital.

* * *

Addison was grinning ear to ear as she scrubbed out of her successful TTS surgery, next to Alex. They dried their hands on the paper towels in silence, before Alex wrapped his arms around her waist picking her up and spinning her round the scrub room as she laughed.

"That was amazing! Two weeks without surgery and for that to be my first one back, it was amazing." She slid back to the ground and linked her fingers behind his neck.

"You are amazing." He breathed as he leant forward and captured her lips with his. "I love you, Dr Montgomery."

"And I love you, Dr Karev." She murmured against his lips.

They were interrupted by the scrub nurse walking into the room and clearing her throat. Addison quickly drew back and straightened her scrub top, nodding at the nurse before hastily leaving the room, blushing the same colour as her hair. Alex laughed as he followed her into the corridor.

"You're cute when you're flustered." He stated as he caught up with her. She spun round and glared at him.

"I don't like you some times you know? When I'm around you at work, I'm not a professional. I can't be professional. You make me feel like a teenage girl, I get all weak at the knees and swoon-y. I don't like your stupid damn lines of deliciousness."

Addison stopped her rant, out of breath and glaring. Alex raised an eyebrow at her. "You done?" She nodded and he reached out and put his hands on her arms, holding her in place. "You are a crazy woman. Are you going to do this every time someone catches us making out?"

She gives him a small sheepish smile. "You still love me, right?"

He pulled her in for a hug. "I love you crazy woman. And that's not going to change when you have one of your neurotic mood swings on me." She rolled her eyes. "Now I'm going to kiss you, in the corridor, where people might see, are you going to freak out?" He smirked at her.

Addison hit him on the chest lightly. "Ass." She brought her hands up and ran her fingers through his short hair before pulling his face down to meet hers, kissing him deeply, moaning as he pushed her against the wall.

She grinned at him as he pulled back. "I love you, too. Can we blame my crazy mood swing on an adrenaline crash?"

He let out a laugh. "Anything you want, Adds."


	9. Already August

**A/N: Yay! 4 reviews for the last chapter, you guys are the best. Here's the next instalment: some more amends, some more emotional drama, some more Addex. Anyway, you know the drill let me know what you think!**

Alex walked into the kitchen at Meredith's house, leaning over where Cristina and Izzie were sitting at the island to grab a muffin from the pile. "These are good, Iz."

"It's a new recipe. I'm experimenting with secret ingredients. There not quite right yet."

Meredith leaned on the other of the counter, her mouth full. "These are pretty damn good. Don't think you can top that. Where's Addison tonight?"

"At the hotel, getting some things. You know she doesn't actually live here right?"

"News to me, Evil Spawn. Satan is here all the time, didn't know she still had her hotel room." Cristina said, sipping her margarita.

"You know you don't live here either, Yang." Alex sighed as he reached out for the margarita Meredith held out to him. "Why are we drinking tonight then? These girly drinks keep ruining my image."

"You should know by now we don't need a reason to drink. It's Tuesday!" Izzie raised her glass and Alex reluctantly clinked his glass against hers as Meredith and Cristina called out 'To Tuesday'.

"Why don't you just ask her to move in? Cristina's right, she's here all the time." Meredith asked as she downed her drink and poured a refill.

"I want to but I'm scared she'd say no. I mean she loves me but I'm sure she doesn't want to move in with her ex-husband and his ex-dirty mistress. No offence."

Meredith just shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "No offence taken. It's a fair point."

Cristina snorted. "Where is Dr McDreamy tonight anyway?"

"He should be here any minute now, he said he just had something to do on his way home."

"I'm here now, actually." Derek smirked as he walked into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek. "Actually, I have something to show you."

"What?" Meredith giggled as she was pulled out the room and the other 3 residents shrugged as they chose to follow them. They gathered in the porch, just out of sight as they saw Derek sit Meredith down on the porch swing. "Derek, there's nothing out here."

"Not yet anyway." He smirked. "I just have something to say to you."

"Derek-"

"You once asked me what you were to me and I told you this: you were like coming up for fresh air. It's like I was drowning and you saved me. It's all I know. And it was true, I was saved by you. Loving you is the most natural thing in the world. It feels like nothing I've ever done before."

Izzie squealed. "Oh my god, is he going to-"

She was cut off by Cristina elbowing her. "Shh, Barbie. We're trying to listen."

"Yang, did you know?" Alex asked her.

"Of course I did. I know everything. Why do you think I'm here? Now shut it Evil Spawn."

"When we first met you were just this girl in a bar. And I said I was someone you needed to get to know to love. And then, by some twist of fate, we got to know each other and we fell in love. You were just this girl in a bar, but when we kissed, it- it was like... I gotta tell you, it was like I'd never kissed any other woman before. It was like the first kiss. The right kiss."

Meredith had tears in her eyes as she looked at Derek. Izzie was silently crying in the porch, oblivious to Cristina's mocking. Alex looked up as he saw a flash of red hair and met Addison's eyes from where she stood at the top of the driveway, eyes filled with tears.

"I'm not going to get down on one knee. I'm not going to ask a question. I love you, Meredith Grey. And I want to spend the rest of my life, with you."

Meredith looked at him and a slow smile spread over her face. "And I want to spend the rest of my life with you." She stood up from the swing and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him on the lips as she laughed and cried with him.

They pulled apart as they heard Izzie's excitement and the shouts of congratulations from her and Cristina as they burst from the porch. Alex didn't take his eyes off Addison, she stood, unnoticed staring at the scene in front of her, tears running down her face. She shifted slightly and knocked over a plant pot, causing everyone's eyes to snap to her. "I…uh…congratulations." She stammered, before turning and fleeing back down the drive.

"Damn." Alex muttered, before pushing past the rest of them and taking off after her, calling her name.

"How much do you think she heard?" Meredith muttered as she watched Alex chase after Addison.

"All of it." Cristina answered.

"Damn." Derek repeated Alex's sentiment from earlier.

* * *

Addison had finished one drink and was starting her second when Alex caught up with her and slid silently onto the stool next to her at Joe's. The tears were streaming steadily down her face.

"Hey." She broke the silence after a few minutes. He reached out and took her hand and squeezed it gently, before ordering himself a beer and taking a sip.

"Want to ask me a question? We haven't done that in a while."

She offered him a half smile."If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?"

He was silent for a moment as he played with the label on the bottle. "I would buy a house for my family in Iowa. Pay off my student loans. Take you to Disneyland. In Orlando and Paris. Maybe buy us a house, if you'd want." He shrugged and a small smile spread across her face in spite of the tears still present. "What about you?"

Addison let out a small chuckle. "I have a million dollars. 25 of them to be exact."

He stared at her with his mouth open. "What?!"

She just shrugged. "Trust fund."

He just shook his head slowly. "You are way out of my league."

"Nope. You are out of mine." She kissed him softly, and he reached up and brushed the tears off her cheeks.

They both sipped their drinks in silence before Addison spoke again. "You know, it's strange. I expected this horrible feeling, this wave of sadness or something to just take over... But... people get divorced... they meet new people, they remarry."

He nodded. "You just wished it'd be you first." He teased as he bumped his knee against hers.

She let out a light laugh. "It was what he said. The 'kiss in the bar' thing. He said it'd never felt like that before. But at the time he'd just left me, his wife of 11 years… we were still married. She was just a stranger in a bar. I'm not saying I still want to be with him, I just wonder…was the last third of my life wasted? Was he just settling for me?"

"He's an ass. And you are no one's second best. You are the best. The woman everyone dreams of being with. I certainly never thought I'd be lucky enough to be with you."

She smiles at him. "How do you always know the perfect thing to say?"

He smirked at her. "What can I say? I'm a pretty perfect guy." She hit him on the chest and muttered the usual 'ass'. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off her stool and toward him, steadying her as she swayed uncertainly. He wrapped his arms around her and she settled against his chest. He rested his chin in the top of her head and rubbed his hands up her arms. "His loss is my gain anyway." He muttered into her hair.

She pulled back slightly to look him in the eye. "I love you so much."

He brushed his lips lightly against hers. "I love you too, Adds. More than anything."

* * *

It was well into the early hours of the morning when Alex led Addison into the house, steadying her as she drunkenly stumbled through the door, giggling. He led her to the stairs, holding onto her waist as she unsteadily took a step. She took the next one and tripped, swearing loudly. Alex grabbed onto her and held her upright as he heard a bedroom door open upstairs and a creak on the landing.

"Karev?" Derek appeared at the top of the stairs. "Do you need a hand?"

"Go to bed, Shepherd. She doesn't want to see you." He tried to guide Addison up another step, sighing as she stumbled into the bannister.

"He's right." Addison slurred and giggled. "I do not want to see you tonight. Not one bit."

Derek sighed and shook his head softly. "I'm sorry, Addie." He turned to go back to bed. "Karev, you're better off picking her up, you'll be there all night."

"I don't need your help, Shepherd." Alex snapped but grabbed her round the waist and picked her up and over his shoulder, carrying her up to his room.

He lay her gently on the bed and took off her shoes off and unzipped her skirt. He unbuttoned her shirt, pulling it off, before pulling back the covers and tucking her under, dropping a kiss on her forehead. He climbed into the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her, before falling asleep.

* * *

Addison walked into her office, seeing Alex in his usual spot in her chair and rolled her eyes, accepting the vanilla latte he handed her. She knocked his feet off the desk and perched herself on his lap, accepting a quick kiss.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" Addison asked taking a sip of her latte, moving to stand up.

"You left without saying goodbye this morning." He said as he grabbed her waist to stop her getting up.

"You looked so peaceful. And I kept you up late being drunk and embarrassing." She smiled sheepishly as she kissed him again.

"Hmm… I suppose I'll forgive you." He stole another kiss from her and let her get up, watching her as she moved round her office, organising the paperwork on her desk.

"So have you seen the McDreamys today?" Addison asked raising an eyebrow.

He stood up so he was standing in front of her, reaching out a hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "You okay?"

"Mmhmm." She hummed as Alex looked at her in disbelief. "I will be, anyway."

He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. "Meet me for lunch? I have something I want to talk to you about."

Addison frowned at him. "Okay…should I be worried?"

He laughed at the look on her face and gave her a kiss. "Absolutely not. See you at lunch."

* * *

Addison sat down on a table at the cafeteria, waiting for Alex while she sipped on her latte. She saw him enter the room and make his way over. She stood up and gave him a kiss. "Hey, honey. How was your day?"

He raised an eyebrow at her as he accepted the sandwich she handed him. "Honey?" He questioned.

She blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

He chuckled and leant to give her another kiss. "It's fine, Adds. I like it."

She smirked and went back to her salad. "Okay then, _honey,_ what did you want to talk about?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Haven't I told you that sarcasm isn't a good look on you?"

She leant forward to whisper in his ear, huskily. "Every look is a good look at me, honey, and you know it." He swallowed visibly and she laughed as she sat back in her chair. "So, talk."

"Right, I am just going to ask you something and I want you to think about it before you say anything or turn me down, please."

"Wow, Karev, you're saying please, must be serious." She deadpanned.

"Addison." She held her hands up and apologised. He shifted nervously in his seat and avoided looking at her. She sighed and placed her hand on his and squeezed it. He looked up and met her eyes. "Move in with me." He blurted.

"What?" She looked at him in shock.

"I mean, I know it'll be awkward Adds, but I love you and you spend all your time off there with me anyway, and I mean, I know you can afford it, but there's not point wasting your money on a hotel room that you're never in-"

"Yes."

"We can look for our own place, just while we do, move in, I mean while we look, if you want to, obviously it's up to you-"

She cut him off with a kiss and laughed. "Alex I said yes."

"You…you did?"

"I think I'm crazy for doing so but yes, I'd love to. I love you."

He reached across and grabbed her, pulling her in for a deep kiss, which she happily returned, reaching across and fisting her hand in his scrub top. He reached up and tangled his fingers in her hair as she let out a moan.

"Satan. Evil Spawn. Get a room." Cristina said as she walked past the table.

"Shut it, Crack Whore." Alex called after her as Addison just laughed and pulled him back to her, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Alex?" He hummed in acknowledgement. She grinned at him as she poked at her salad. "I'm really happy."

He just smiled back. "Yeah?" He said softly. "Me too."

* * *

Cristina sat down on the table with Meredith, Izzie and George. "So did you hear the news?"

"What news?" George asked. "McDreamy and Meredith being engaged? Because that's old news."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "No, Bambi. Evil Spawn asked Satan to move in."

"He what?!" Izzie said. "He can't do this without asking us. Meredith, are you hearing this?"

Meredith shrugged. "Yeah, I am. I told him he should ask her."

"Wait, you're okay with Satan moving into your house, Mer?"

"Well, yeah. She's not so bad when you get to know her. Do you think we should ask her to girls' night next week?"

"Are you crazy?" Izzie looked at Cristina. "She's crazy, right?"

"What? She's Alex's girlfriend. She's going to be living with us. We should make an effort!"

"She's your fiancés ex-wife." George stated.

"I'm asking her." Meredith said.

* * *

Addison walked into Alex's room that evening and flung herself down on the bed face down. Alex chuckled and moved her hair off her face to kiss her on the cheek.

"You alright, Adds?"

She sighed and rolled over onto her back. "Grey invited me to girls' night next week? Is she serious or are they just plotting a way to kill me?"

He laughed again and gave her a kiss, which quickly became heated as he rolled her on top of him. She pulled back breathing heavily, her face hovering inches from his. "I think it's another olive branch. You going to go?"

She sighed and gave him a quick kiss before settling her head on his chest. "I already said yes. I don't know why. Promise me you'll come and rescue me if I call?"

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "Anything for you, Adds."

She grinned at him mischievously. "So, this is home now? Fancy christening _our_ bed?"

She let out a squeal as he flipped them on the bed and took her shirt off. "I knew I loved you." He muttered as he trailed kisses down her body.

* * *

"So tonight's the night." Alex said as he walked up behind where Addison was filling out paperwork at the nurse's station. She turned around leant against the desk as Alex placed an arm on either side of her, placing her vanilla latte down and stole a quick kiss. She frowned and hit his chest lightly. "Work, Alex."

He just rolled his eyes, bent down and kissed her again causing her to sigh gently against him. "You ready for tonight then?"

She groaned. "I am so regretting saying yes. You're lucky I love you. The things I do for you."

He chuckled and kissed her hard on the lips, pressing her back against the counter as she let out a low moan when he deepened the kiss.

Alex pulled back when he heard someone clearing their throat next to them, and Addison blushed the same colour as her hair.

"Dr Montgomery, if you've finished making out with your resident in the corridor, I could use a consult." Bailey said as she stood in front of them with her arms crossed. "And Karev, you're needed down in the pit."

"Right." He nodded and quickly kissed Addison's cheek and walked away.

Addison picked up her coffee and took a sip. "Miranda-"

"No, don't 'Miranda' me, Addison Montgomery. I thought you had more sense than that. Making out with residents in the hallway… Nasty. Now come on." Bailey turned and walked off and Addison trailed behind, her face still red as she straightened her skirt and adjusted her lab coat.

* * *

Later that evening, Addison walked into Joe's wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a low cut red wrap top with knee high boots. She looked around nervously until she spotted the group of residents in a booth in the corner. She walked up to them and greeted them with a nervous 'hey'.

Meredith looked up and smiled, shifting over in the booth to make room for her. "Dr Montgomery, hey!"

"It's Addison, please." She tried to smile but it was more of a grimace.

There was an awkward silence between the four of them until Cristina looked at the newcomer. "So, Addison, how do you feel about tequila?"

Addison let out a light laugh. "You know, I've never really had it."

The three residents looked at her in shock. "Joe, we're going to need a bottle of tequila over here and a whole bunch of limes. We have a tequila virgin over here." Meredith called over to the bar.

Joe chuckled as he brought the stuff over. "Dr Montgomery." He nodded with a smile. "Good luck."

"I can handle my liquor Joe." She called after him.

"Sure you can McVomit." Izzie muttered under her breath as Meredith kicked her hard under the table.

Addison raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Okay Stevens, we're on. How do we do this?"

Several shots of tequila later and the woman sat in giggles around the table. "Wait." Addison laughed. "You broke a man's penis?"

Cristina snorted. "In her defence, she was having a lot of inappropriate sex at the time. Statistically, it was bound to happen."

Meredith reached across the table and hit Cristina. "It wasn't _that_ many men."

"McYeah it was."

Addison snickered as she did another shot. "So what is this 'McLabelling' obsession about?"

Meredith shrugged. "Cristina started it."

"I wouldn't have had to start it if you hadn't been making out with Dr McDreamy the married attending in the elevators." She saw Addison flinch. "Sorry."

Addison just waved it away. "It's fine."

"You know you had a McName?"

Addison just laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, I've heard it. McVomit."

Meredith waved her shot glass in her direction. "Nope. Before that."

"What was it?" Addison asked as she poured another shot. "McBitchy? McSatan?"

"McHot." Izzie stated.

Addison choked on her shot. "What?!" She spluttered.

"Evil Spawn came up with it when McSteamy showed up." Cristina shrugged.

Addison allowed a small smile to cross her face. "Sounds like Alex."

Cristina made a gagging sound "She has that dopey love-sick look on her face."

"You really love him, don't you?" Izzie asked softly.

"More than I thought was possible." The table fell into an awkward silence until it was broken by Addison's soft giggles, which quickly turned in to full on laughter.

"Has she gone crazy?" Meredith whispered to the others as the stared at her, with tears of laughter running down her cheeks.

"Sorry." She gasped between breaths. "It's just if someone told me last year I'd be divorced, out drinking with my ex-husband's new fiancé and her friends and in love with the cocky, pain in the ass resident I would've sent them to psych."

The others joined in with her laughter until they all sat in hysterical laughter around the table, gaining several weird looks from other customers. "A lot can happen in a year."

"It's gone so quick." Cristina said

Meredith nodded. "Just think, it's already August."

* * *

Addison was giggling as she stumbled into bed that night, fully dressed and landing on top of Alex, who woke with a grunt.

"Hey, handsome." She grinned at him, leaning over his face.

He groaned and shut his eyes. "You're drunk."

She sat up, swaying lightly from side to side, still smiling. "Yes. Shh, don't tell." She whispered while attempting to bring a finger to her lips.

"Are you going to come to bed?"

She shook her head. "Not without a kiss."

He sighed and sat up, climbing out from the covers. He cradled her face and gave her a soft kiss, which she quickly turned heated before pulling away giggling.

He screwed his face up slightly. "You taste like tequila."

"I've never had it before. It's great, isn't it?"

He smiled at her and shook his head, before helping her out of her jeans and top, finding an old t-shirt of his and pulling it over her head. "I have a feeling you won't be saying that in the morning." He said as he picked her up and place her under the covers, leaving a soft kiss of her forehead. "I'll be right back, go to sleep."

Alex walked out of his room and downstairs into the kitchen, peering into Izzie's room on his way past. He rolled his eyes when he saw Meredith, Cristina and Izzie passed out on the bed, and pulled the door shut. After pouring a glass of water and grabbing some aspirin from the cabinet, he made his way back to his room and placed them on the night stand next to Addison.

As he climbed into bed next to her, she shifted over until she had her head resting on his chest and she was looking up at him. "Hey." He whispered. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Almost." She whispered. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you first."

His gave her a small smile at that and kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you too Adds."

She nuzzled her way further into him, hooking an arm and a leg across his body as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. He had almost drifted back to sleep when he heard her murmur softly into his chest. "The past 8 months with you in my life have been the best of my life."

He didn't say anything, just squeezed her tightly and stroked his hand through her hair, both of them drifting asleep with smiles on their faces.

* * *

Addison groaned as she woke up the next morning. Alex had left for pre-rounds hours before and she didn't have to be in until the afternoon. She looked over and saw the aspirin on the nightstand, taking them as she drained the glass of water.

She cautiously made her way out of bed and down into the kitchen in search of coffee. She figured everyone else would already be at the hospital so her attire of Alex's t-shirt and her panties would be okay. She stumbled slightly into the kitchen, oblivious to her surroundings as she focused on pouring herself a coffee, sighing as she took a sip.

"Rough night?" Her head shot up at the voice and she saw Derek sat at the dining table, reading a paper and she anxiously tugged a little on the bottom of the t-shirt, wishing it covered more than it did. "Relax Addie, I've seen it all before."

She sighed and sat at the table next to him. "Doesn't mean I want you to see it again." She snapped.

Derek put his paper down and looked at her. "Are we okay?" She looked at him in disbelief. "I'm sorry."

She raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"Everything." She looked at him in surprise, choosing to remain silent and drink her coffee. "The way I treated you. You did something wrong but I was an ass, you didn't deserve it."

She gave him a small smile. "Maybe I did. I slept with your best friend."

"I ignored you. I was indifferent to you. Yes, you had a relationship with Mark but I had one with Meredith. And when you were trying so hard to make it work, I treated you horribly. I should've ended it before I did. I was unfair to you."

She sighed and ran a hand through the tangled mess of her hair. "I should've stepped aside. Been the better person. I knew you loved her. I should've…a lot of things."

"I loved you too. You were my wife and my best friend for 11 years. I'll always love you."

She nodded slowly, taking another sip of coffee. "You never loved me the way you love her."

He eyed her cautiously. "No." He whispered simply.

She nodded again, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would but she still couldn't bring herself to meet his eye.

"Karev loves you that way." She looks at him in shock. "As much as I hate to admit, he looks at you like you are the only woman in the room. The only woman in every room. Like you are his sun."

"Yeah?" She whispered.

He nodded. "He loves you and you love him. I think if you're honest you love him more than you ever did me. You're the happiest I've ever seen you."

"Yeah." She repeated and reached out and squeezed his arm. "I'll always love you too, Derek."

He returned his attention back to his newspaper and Addison picked up her coffee and left the room, both happy with the truce they'd made.


	10. Grey Skies in September

**A/N: This one's a tad different. It's based on the season 6 episode where Alex's brother visits but obviously set in this world. Also, instead of a chapter with several events over a month this is just one day, so let's just pretend it was the middle of the month and nothing of importance happened for the rest of it. Anyway, let me know what you all think, even if you think it sucks, I appreciate it! x**

Alex was in the shower, getting ready for his shift when the bathroom door burst open and Meredith walked in.

"Alex? So, okay, Izzie's not here and Cristina's not answering her phone and I have a thing, so I need you to be a girl for me."

Alex stuck his head outside the shower door. "What'd he do? Want me to kick his ass?"

"He wants a big wedding. A big white wedding with all the family. I'm not a church wedding bride I'm not a poofy white dress bride either. He wants me to be."

"So you do want me to kick his ass?" He smirked.

"Alex."

"Do you want to get married?"

"I want to get married. I just don't want a wedding. I would be the worse bride in the world."

Addison opened the bathroom door. "Alex-" She sees Meredith pacing the bathroom as Alex was in the shower and raised an eyebrow at them. "Am I interrupting?"

Alex gave her a sheepish smile. "I was being a girl." Addison rolled her eyes and sat down on the closed toilet seat.

"Anything I can help with? Being an actual girl and all…"

Meredith looked Addison up and down, contemplating whether to say anything. "Derek wants a big wedding."

"And you don't." She smiled at her.

"I'm not really a big wedding girl."

Addison just shrugged. "So tell him."

Meredith looked at her in shock. "I preferred Alex's advice."

Addison looked at him curiously. "I offered to kick his ass."

She let out a small laugh. "Seriously, talk to him. He loves you, he'd be willing to bend for you."

Meredith looked between the two of them, thinking. "Or I could get Alex to kick his ass…"

The three of them started laughing as Derek walked in. "Hey Alex…" He stopped when he noticed the other occupants in the room. "Mer. Addie."

"He's being a girl for me." Meredith said.

Derek turned and looked at Alex. "Dude, it's true."

Derek looked at Addison. "And you are here because…?"

She shrugged. "I wanted to see Alex."

He nodded slowly and turned back to Alex. "Right. There's a guy downstairs who says he's your brother. Do you want me to send him up here to the bathroom since this seems to be where you receive your visitors?"

Meredith looked at Derek. "Tell him to wait."

"Right." Derek said as he left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Meredith turned to Alex, while Addison sat there silently. "You have a brother?!" Alex nodded in silence. "Do you want me to go get rid of him?"

"Crap. What's he doing here?" Alex muttered as he closed the shower door. Meredith looked at Addison and mouthed 'brother?' and Addison just shrugged in response and followed her out the bathroom.

* * *

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Alex said as he walked into the kitchen, followed by Addison and Meredith, and saw his brother sat talking to Derek.

His brother turned and smiled, standing up and reaching out to hug him. "Man, you got old!"

He returned the hug and repeated his earlier question."What are you doing here?"

"I had to drive to Portland on a job. Since I was in the neighbourhood…" He shrugged.

Alex just looked at him. "Portland isn't in the neighbourhood."

"It's 3 hours. I do 3 hours in my sleep." He replied smiling.

Addison stepped forward and placed her hand on his arm. "Alex, he's your brother, he's allowed to come say hi."

Alex turned and glared at her. She just raised an eyebrow back at him and squeezed his arm.

"What? We're due for a visit, it's been 7 years-"

"No, it has not." Alex interrupted.

"Since you've been home. It's been 7 years"

Derek looked over at him in shock. "7 years? You haven't been home in 7 years?!"

"Derek…I have this." Meredith warned.

He sighed and stood up to leave the room. "I'm Derek. Nice meeting you."

"Aaron." He stuck his hand out and Derek shook it before he left the room, throwing a 'take care' over his shoulder.

Meredith stuck her hand out. "I'm Meredith, by the way. It's nice to meet you." She turned and looked at Alex, who had been silent throughout this whole thing, with Addison still standing next to him with a hand on his arm. "Has it been 7 years?"

Aaron just continued talking. "Amber was 10 the last time we saw you-"

Alex cut in. "Aaron, what's going on? What do you want?"

"I do miss you, okay? And I did want you to say hi but since you're a doctor I thought I'd ask…" Aaron paused and lifted his shirt. "Should I be worried about this?"

The three doctors leant closer and peered at his stomach curiously. "Huh." Meredith said, as they saw it.

* * *

"I honestly don't think I need surgery…" Aaron said as they sat in the waiting room of Seattle Grace, Alex filling in the paperwork to admit him.

"You do." Meredith jumped in.

"It doesn't even hurt that bad." He protested.

"You have an umbilical hernia." Alex said. "You need surgery so shut up and fill out the paperwork."

Aaron kept smiling at him. "Surgery is just going to make it hurt worse. Remember when Dad had his gall bladder out…"

"Stop talking!" Alex snapped. "Just write."

Addison dropped her hand onto his knee and squeezed.

"Write what? I don't have an insurance, okay? What am I supposed to write?"

Alex shifted uncomfortably in his seat as a silence fell over them, interrupted by the sound of Addison's pager. She checked it and sighed. "911. I've got to go." Sh stood up with a final squeeze of Alex's knee and a look thrown at Meredith warning that she better have this under control. "I'll catch up with you later." She said as she walked off.

"Ask Bailey to do it pro bono." Meredith said to him.

He shook his head. "I can't ask her to do that."

Meredith sighed. "Alex, he's your brother."

"Evil Spawn has a brother?" Cristina said as she walked over.

"Aaron. Cristina Yang." Meredith introduced, as Aaron stood up and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Dr Yang, I'm Aaron Karev."

"Oh my God, you're so nice. He's so…" She turned and looked at Alex in shock. "Why can't you be nice like your brother, Angel Spawn?"

Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Why can't you?" He snapped.

Cristina shrugged. "Fair enough." She turned to Meredith. "What's up, you called?"

Meredith got up to follow her, shooting a glare and a 'talk to Bailey' his way as she left.

* * *

Meredith was showing Aaron his scans with Bailey as he leaned over them. "That's my intestine?!" He asked in shock.

"Yep." She said, pointing at it. "And that part right there is supposed to be on the inside of the membrane not the outside."

"Dude, that is sick. Can I get a copy of one of these? I want to hang it from my fridge." Aaron said as Addison walked past, stopping when she saw them.

"Grey, Miranda, are we doing consults at the desk nowadays, cause I kinda need to use the computer?" She said as she raised an eyebrow at them.

"You're the hot red head from this morning." Aaron said as he looked her up and down and Bailey cleared her throat loudly.

Addison just laughed and held her hand out. "Addison Montgomery." She said as she leant against the desk and joined them.

"Nice to meet you." Aaron said.

"So…" Addison smiled at him. "How is it your brother is a surgeon, and you waited months to take care of this?"

Aaron shrugged. "I don't know. Karevs are tough. I guess five years in foster care will do that to you."

 **"** Foster care?" Bailey questioned.

Addison looked at him curiously. **"** You're all foster children?"

 **"** Well, me and Amber were in and out, but Alex, he had, like, seventeen different foster homes in five years."

 **"** So Alex was a foster child?" Meredith checked.

Aaron nodded. "Yeah, you know, because my mom was, you know, it was before they had all the meds that they have today, and she was, I guess she was doing her best, but my dad, he...wasn't a good guy, and he was, you know...whatever, and so Alex, he got shipped around a lot, and he was a pretty rough kid if you didn't know him, so people didn't like to keep him. Then he ended up in juvie."

"J-juvenile detention?" Bailey checked.

 **"** Yeah, 'cause my mom, she, sometimes she'd forget to buy food, so...he was good, though. People wouldn't have even known he was stealing anything if it hadn't been for the video cameras."

 **"** How old was he?" Bailey whispered.

Aaron thought for a moment as he continued looking at the scan. **"** Mmm, eleven. Maybe twelve."

Alex walked over to them, holding a stack of charts and the three of them looked up at him.

"Hey, what do we do in 2807?" He asked Bailey and then looked at them suspiciously as they go quiet. "Dude, are you talking crap in here?"

Aaron shook his head. "No."

"Dude, I work here!" Alex snapped.

"Alex." Addison sighed in warning.

"So go to work." Bailey said. "Check the chest tube in 2807. Go!"

Alex glared at them. "Shut it, Aaron!" He warned as he left.

Bailey turned back to Aaron. "So, what happened after juvie?"

Addison gave her a Satan glare. "Miranda, I don't think that Alex would-"

"And I don't think Alex would want his girlfriend interfering!"

Aaron looked between the women. "Girlfriend?" He questioned.

Addison glared at her. "Grey, I need you to run tests on my preemie." She said as she walked away.

"So." Bailey said. "After juvie…?"

* * *

"Hey." Addison said as she found Alex sat on a bench outside the hospital.

"He told you stuff didn't he?" He asked as she sat down next to him.

She nodded. "Want to talk about it?" He shook his head. "Want to ask me a question?"

He turned to her and smiled, grasping her hand in his. "Do you have a Dad?" He asked.

She frowned for a minute. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

She sighed. "I call my father 'The Captain'. I mixed drinks for him from the age of 8 and covered for him when he slept with every woman he met, lying to my mother saying he was taking me out for ice-cream. I think he felt guilty, added a million to my trust fund every time I caught him. I guess I have a father. I just don't have a Dad."

He squeezed her fingers and she dropped his head against his shoulders. "I didn't have a Dad either. I'm not sure I could even call him a father. He used to get drunk. Beat the crap out of my mom. Then when we got older, and he beat the crap out of me and Aaron too. So I took up wrestling. And one day when he hit me, I hit back. Hard. So hard he left and he never came back. Then I went to college on a wrestling scholarship. And I never came back either."

Addison stayed silent as he talked, just tilting her head and kissing the underside of his jaw. "I think I want soup for dinner. I'll stop by the store on the way home. What's your favourite?"

"Potato and leek." He said without pausing.

She sat up and looked up at him, screwing up her face. "That's gross. I'm not buying that."

He chuckled and kissed her gently.

* * *

Alex walked into Aaron's hospital room and looked at his chart.

"Dude, how could you not have told me you have a live in girlfriend?"

Alex turned to Meredith. "You told him?"

"No, no it wasn't me. It was Bailey."

Aaron stared at him. "Yeah, she figured your own brother would know you were in a committed live-in relationship with a hot red-head, but…"

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you, because I knew you'd make a big deal." Alex sighed.

"It _is_ a big deal! You move in with a woman! You've never even really had a girlfriend before! Just a string of one night stands. Wait until Mom hears about this, she's gonna flip!"

 **"** She's not gonna do anything, because you're not gonna tell her, all right? You're gonna get your free surgery, you're gonna get back in your truck, and you're gonna get the hell out of here!" Alex yelled.

 **"** Fine. You know what? I don't need your free surgery. I'll see you." Aaron snapped.

Meredith glanced between them nervously. "Aaron, stop."

"You're not going anywhere." Alex glared at him.

 **"** I don't need your crap! You walked out on us! Like father, like son." Aaron shouted after him as Alex walked out the room.

* * *

Addison walked into the gallery before Aaron's surgery half surprised that Alex wasn't there but at the same time not surprised at all. She sat in the front row and leant forward, resting her elbows on her knees, as she watched Aaron talk to Bailey and Meredith.

"He protected me my whole life, you know? He kicked my dad's ass so hard, the son of a bitch never came back. I always thought he did that for me, but maybe he just likes throwing punches." Aaron told them and Addison's fists clenched involuntarily.

Meredith sighed and looked at him. **"** Aaron, I like you, I do, but you can't talk about my friend that way, okay?"

 _Good girl, Meredith._ Addison thought as she watched Bailey place the breathing mask on him. **"** I need you to count backwards from ten for me, okay?"

 **"** Okay. Ten, nine, eight…" Aaron counted as he drifts to sleep.

Bailey looked down at him. "That's it. A junkie dad, a crackpot mom, and somehow, Karev still became a doctor. I'm not easily impressed, but I'm impressed. Ten blade."

Addison smiled as she thought about how sweet and caring Alex was with her. Yeah, she was impressed too.

* * *

Addison walked into her office and smiled softly as she saw Alex in her chair, walking over and kissing him.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What, you're not going to yell at me for being in your chair?" She just shrugged. "Where have you been anyway?"

"I was watching Aaron's surgery." She perched on the desk. "It went without a hitch."

He nodded. "You ready to leave?"

"You don't want to wait for him to wake up?" He shot her a look. "I just have to check on my patients one last time then I can leave."

She stood up to leave. "Adds?" She stopped in the doorway. "Thank you." She smiled at him and nodded her head, before turning and walking out.

* * *

Addison walked back into her office 45 minutes later and sighed when she found Alex gone. She picked up her bag and her coat and made her way to where she thought Alex would be. As she got to Aaron's room she smiled when she saw Alex sat by the bed and she leaned on the door frame as she watched him.

Aaron's eyes started flickering open and he turned and saw Alex. "You don't have to be here. You can go."

"No, I'm just making sure you don't croak, and then I'm out of here." Alex snapped.

Aaron looked at him and frowned. "You...saved my ass every day when we were kids. You were a better parent than Mom and Dad put together. Every day, I feel bad for Amber that it's just me, instead of you. What happened to you, man?"

Alex sighed and looked at him pained. "I send you money every month. I send Mom her meds. You want that to stop? I am this close to being a real surgeon. I can't. I- I can't be in that and do this. I can't."

He nodded slightly. "Amber's a good kid. She turned out okay. You'd like her."

"You turned out okay too, Aaron."

Addison cleared her throat and both pairs of eyes looked at her. She walked over and rested her hand on Alex's shoulder, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling, Aaron?"

He smiled at the two of them. "I've been better, but I'm okay. Thanks, Addison."

She chuckled and turned to Alex. "You ready to go, honey?"

Alex nodded and linked his fingers through hers, making his way over to the door. "Alex?" He looked over at Aaron. "I'm happy for you and the hot red-head or whatever."

He smiled at his little brother and gave a small nod. "Thanks."

* * *

Addison finished her soup and leaned against Alex, snuggling into his side as he wrapped his arm around her. He traced small circles on her arm as she smiled.

"Thank you. For today." He murmured.

"I didn't do anything."

"You were there."

She kissed his jaw. "I'll always be there. If you want me."

He chuckled. "I'll always want you."

They heard the door slam shut and Meredith walked in. She sat down on the other end of the sofa, nudging Addison's feet out the way, causing the other woman to glare at her.

"Where's Aaron?" She asked.

Alex shrugged. "He went back to Iowa."

"You let him drive after surgery?"

Alex glared at her, and Addison rubbed circles gently on his chest. "I'm not his dad. He's got my number."

Meredith leaned over Addison and placed a hand on his leg. "You know you're nothing like your father, right?"

Alex nodded slowly, and Meredith sat back. "You know, Mer, I think you'll be a good wife. You'll be a sucky bride though."

"Jeez, thanks, Alex. But you're right. I should tell him."

The front door slammed and Derek called out hello. Addison nudged Meredith with her foot. "Here's your chance." She said.

Meredith let out a big sigh and stood up. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." She smirked. She looked over and saw Alex smiling at her. "What?"

"You're a good person, you know? You're a better person than I could ever be."

She kisses him gently. "What makes you say that?"

"You're giving relationship advice to your ex-husband's new fiancé, who also happens to be the woman who broke up your marriage.

Addison shrugged. "You give Izzie advice sometimes."

He scoffed. "What Izzie and I had barely constituted a relationship. You were married to the guy for 11 years."

They heard the door slam again, Meredith shouting out Derek's name before running up the stairs. Addison raised an eyebrow. "Apparently, I don't give the best advice though." Alex shifted to go talk to her but Addison placed her hand on his chest, giving him a kiss. "I've got this." She stood up.

He smirks. "See, good person."

She laughs as she left the room. "I was thinking more masochist."

* * *

Addison climbed the stairs and knocked softly on the door before walking in, seeing Meredith laying face down on the bed.

"Go away, Alex." Meredith mumbled into the pillow.

"It's not Alex." Addison said as lay down on the bed next to her.

Meredith looked up from the pillow. "Oh, sorry."

She chuckled. "It's fine, Meredith. He didn't take it so well, I guess?"

"No offence, Addison, but it was really crappy advice."

"No, it wasn't." She said simply.

"He stormed out and yelled at me. It didn't exactly go well."

Addison rolled over on her side and placed a hand on Meredith's shoulder. "No, it wasn't." She repeated. "You told him. He knows how you feel now. Derek's a hot head. He reacts without thinking. Give him some time, he'll calm down, cool off and come back. Trust me, I was married to the guy for 11 years."

"Yeah, cause that ended so well." Addison flinched and took her hand back, moving to get up. Meredith sighed. "Addison, I'm sorry. That was unfair."

Addison looked at her. "Yeah, it was. But I'll forgive you. As you are upset and all."

"It's just what if he doesn't? Come back? Cool down?"

Addison laughed and Meredith glared at her. "Sorry, it's just, you've never done this before, have you? The relationship stuff? I feel like I'm talking to Alex." She sobered up and looked at her again. "See the thing is he loves you and you love him. You're going to fight, you're going to get angry, you're going to run. But you'll come back because you love each other. And that's what people do."

She looks up at her with watery eyes. "But, what-"

Addison took Meredith's hand and squeezed. "Meredith, it will work out. Trust me."

Meredith nodded wearily. 'Thank you, Addison."

Addison gave her hand a final squeeze before leaving the room and heading back downstairs, collapsing on the sofa next to Alex. He massaged her shoulders gently and she let out a sigh. "This being a good person crap is exhausting."

He chuckled at her, spinning her round and planting a kiss on her lips. He pulled her closer to him, dragging his tongue across her bottom lip, moaning as she parted her lips and straddled his lap. He fisted a hand in her hair and she gasped and ground her hips against him. They were so involved in each other, they didn't notice the front door open again and Izzie walk in.

"Hey, Alex, I heard your brother was in the hospital today- woah! Okay, I did not need to see that." She cut off as she walked into the living room.

Addison sighed and pulled back, placing a last gentle kiss on his lips and sitting back as Alex shifted uncomfortably beneath her. "We need to move out." She muttered under her breath, causing Alex to chuckle. She plastered an overly bright smile on her face and turned to Izzie. "Hello Stevens."

Izzie frowned as she sat on the armchair. "You two just can't keep it in your pants, can you?"

Alex let out a laugh and sat up, wrapping Addison in his arms so she rested against his chest. "Can you blame me? She's hot." He winked at Addison, who hit his chest as Izzie made a fake gagging sound.

"You guys are nauseating."

Addison smirked. "We know."

"Where's Meredith?"

"Her and McDreamy had a fight." Alex said.

"So, is Cristina on her way?" Izzie asked.

"Crap." Addison looked at Alex confused. "We forgot to call Cristina. It's like Meredith 101."

Izzie sighed. "I'll call her now." She stood up and left the room to call her, when the door opened again. Addison looked up from Alex's chest as Derek walked in.

"You're an ass." She called.

He looked at her startled, before sighing and rubbing his face with his hand. "I know."

"You were stupid."

"I know."

"You hurt her."

"I know."

"You need to apologise."

"I know."

Addison nodded satisfied as Derek made his way upstairs and Alex shouted to Izzie that she didn't need to call Cristina. Addison looked down at Alex and sighed. "This place is a madhouse." He nodded at her. "You're lucky I love you."

He chuckled as he brushed his lips against hers. "I love you too, Adds."


	11. Blowing Leaves of October

**A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews for the last chapter, glad you liked it as much as I did! This chapter has really been kicking my ass and I'm still not happy about it. I guess my love for chapter 10 makes it very hard to top that with another one. I want to write more like that one but it seems like it doesn't fit with the rest of this story's format and I don't like this chapter. Anyway... rant over. Let me know what you think of this one, thanks for reading x**

Addison walked over to where Alex sat in the cafeteria with the other residents and greeted him with a kiss.

"Hey, honey." She said as Cristina and Izzie faked gagged and she rolled her eyes and ignored them. "How was Preston's valve replacement surgery?"

He grinned. 'It was great! I got to do a few of the stitches all by myself."

She leant over and kissed him on the lips gently. "Well done, I'm proud of you."

"Yeah?" She nodded and he kissed her again, more heated this time.

"Seriously, keep it in your pants!" Cristina shot at them.

"Shut it Crack Whore."

Addison kicked Cristina under the table, causing her to look at Addison in shock as she smirked back. "You know, I don't like her. She's getting too comfortable."

"I like her." George piped up. "She kicked Cristina."

"Dude, please she terrifies you." Alex laughed.

"She does not!" George protested.

Addison laughed and leaned over to him, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "It's okay George. I like you too."

He blushed bright red and started stuttering, causing Addison to lean back in her chair and burst out laughing.

"Addison, stop torturing Bambi or people will start calling you Satan again." Alex warned.

Cristina laughed. "I take it back. I like Satan, she's fun."

She raised an eyebrow at Alex. "See? I'm fun."

Alex rolled his eyes and kissed her again.

Addison dug into her salad and looked at Alex sideways. "So a little birdie tells me it's your birthday next week. Your 30th birthday."

Alex turned and glared at his friends. "Okay, who told her?"

Meredith looked between all of them and back to him. "Erm, none of us knew when your birthday was…"

Alex turned back to Addison. "Adds, who told you?"

She held her hands up in defeat and laughed nervously. "Okay, no one told me, I may have looked it up in your file."

He raised an eyebrow at her as the others looked between them apprehensively. "Why didn't you just ask me?"

"Would you have told me if I asked?" She challenged.

He stared at her for a second. "No, I wouldn't have." He chuckled.

Izzie leant over to George in shock. "Did that just happen? Why didn't he yell? He'd normally be yelling by now."

"I don't know. Maybe he's broken. Or dying"

Meredith just laughed. "Nope. He's in love."

"So we're having a party."

"Addison…" He warned.

"Honey, you only turn 30 once. You're having a party." Addison said, not looking up from picking through her salad.

"But-"

"Alex, no buts. We're having a party. It's your birthday, we all want to celebrate with you."

Alex shrugged and went back to his sandwich. "Okay."

"Okay?" Izzie hissed at the other residents.

"He's broken." George said.

* * *

"You're hovering." Meredith said from where she sat in the research lab, turning round to look at Addison, who was awkwardly fidgeting in the doorway.

Addison sighed and she walked in. "Yes." She said simply.

"So spit it out." Meredith said. "I mean, last time you were this nervous about talking to me you wanted to know if I was sleeping with your husband so I'm going to jump in and say I'm not sleeping with Alex."

"Well, er, thanks?" Addison frowned at her as Meredith shrugged helplessly. "I was going to ask you what I should get Alex for his birthday."

"Alex? That's tricky…" Meredith stayed silent for a while, thinking. "What did he get you on your birthday?"

"We weren't going out then. So technically nothing. And I didn't tell him it was my birthday. He took me to the fair the week after though."

"The fair? That's cute." Meredith said.

Addison sighed. "Meredith, we're getting off topic here."

"Sorry! Look, Alex is a simple guy, you know that." Addison nodded. "So nothing expensive or anything. Just something personal. That shows you know him and you care."

Addison nodded again. "Okay… Personal, I can do that. Thanks Meredith."

"Anytime Addison." She smiled at her as Addison left the room.

* * *

"Addie!" Addison was almost out of the doors of Seattle Grace when she heard Mark shouting after her. She froze and reluctantly turned around.

"Mark." She greeted.

He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked at her. "What Addie? Are you not pleased to see me?"

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Mark, I don't have time for your games right now, so just spit out what you have to say."

"Wow, someone's panties are in a twist." Addison glared at him and he held his hands up in defence. "I just had a pregnant burn victim and I needed a consult, but I'll just ask the other OB attending, never mind…" Mark turned to leave but she stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Mark, I'm sorry. It's just I talked Alex into having a party and I'm so late, I was called into this emergency surgery and I'm _so_ late. What sort of crappy girlfriend am I if I can't even get to my boyfriend's party, which I _made_ him have, on time?" Addison sighed and shook her head. "Anyway, none of that is your fault. So sorry, Mark."

He let out a chuckle. "It's fine Addie. I'll forgive you." She smiled at him and turned to leave, this time he stopped her with a hand. "You're not a bad girlfriend, Addie, you're a surgeon. And for what it's worth, I know I haven't said this yet, but I'm, um, I'm happy for you. And Alex."

She gave him a genuine smile. "That means, um, that means a lot Mark. Thank you. You're a good guy, you'll find someone."

He gave her a smile, looking a bit like a kid at Christmas. "You think?"

"I know." She said, and they smiled at each other. A few seconds passed and she shifted awkwardly. "I've got to, um. Party."

"Right.' Mark nodded.

"I'll see you later, Mark." Addison called as she walked out the hospital and towards Joe's bar.

* * *

Alex was standing at the bar talking to Izzie and George when Meredith walked over to them. "Hey, happy birthday Alex!" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "30, you're getting old!"

He chuckled. "Don't tell Addison that, she'll have a fit. She has a bit of an age complex, what with the difference and all. No matter how many times I tell her 38 isn't old!"

Meredith laughed. "She not here yet?"

Alex shook his head and Izzie muttered to George. "Some girlfriend."

Alex whirled round to face her. "What did you just say?"

Izzie looked at him in shock. "Nothing! Just she's the whole reason you're having the party, you didn't even want it. She could at least turn up."

He glared at her. "Look, both me and her have been nice enough to overlook it until this point, Iz, as you're one of my best friends. But you need to stop. I've seen the way you act towards Torres and I'm not going to let you treat Addison that way, I'm not going to be like Bambi. You may be my friend but she is my girlfriend- no, screw that- she is the _love of my life._ So you better apologise to her and get over whatever your problem is, because, if push comes to shove, I'll choose her." With one more final glare, her grabbed his beer and turned and stormed off.

Izzie frowned and opened her mouth to call after him but was cut off by Meredith. "Alex is right Izzie. You need to make an effort. Addison is a nice person and she makes Alex happy. You can see they love each other. And if I'm able to get on with her and I broke up her marriage, you can too."

Izzie turned and looked at George for support, who just shrugged. "I should've said that to you about Callie months ago. So while you're at it, you can apologise to her too. I love you, Iz, you're a good person, this isn't like you."

"Fine." She muttered, taking a sip from the drink Joe handed her.

* * *

Addison rushed into the bar, scanning through the crowd for Alex, heading over when she saw him talking to Derek. "Should I be worried?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

They laughed as she wrapped her arms around Alex. "Shepherd has some very interesting stories about you."

She glared at him. "What did you say to him, Derek?"

Derek looked at her nervously. "I'm, um, I'm just going to go." He pointed in a vague direction and retreated hastily.

Addison laughed and moved her hands behind Alex's neck, kissing him fiercely on the lips, grinning at him as she pulled away. "Happy birthday, honey. I'm so sorry I'm late, I was in a surgery and I tried my best to get of there in time and I'm so sorry, don't hate me."

He stopped her rambling by brushing his lips over hers gently. "Adds, I could never hate you. You're a surgeon, someone needed surgery, that's more important than some party. And you're here now. With me." He smirked and kissed her again.

"Sorry, I'm being crazy again." She let out a light laugh. "I love you, Alex. Are you having fun?"

"I love you too. And it's been good. Better now you're here." He broke the moment by grinning at her mischievously. "You never told me you had poison oak."

Addison pulled back and hit him on the chest, while blushing furiously. "I can't believe that ass told you that." Alex was almost doubled over laughing, holding her in place while she tried to wriggle out of his arms.

"Come on Addison, it's funny!" She stopped fighting and instead stood there pouting.

"It's humiliating." She huffed.

"You're cute when you're flustered." He dropped a kiss on her pout.

"That better have been the only thing he told you or I swear to God…"

"Relax, Adds. No matter what he tells me, I'd still be in love with you. Now lets get you a martini." He took her hand and started to lead her towards the bar. Alex stopped as he saw Izzie approaching them, giving her a warning glare as he tightened his grip on Addison's hand.

Addison looked between the two of them confused, before nudging Alex gently. "Honey, you're hurting my hand." He apologised and moved his arm round her waist instead. "Is everything okay?"

"Um, Dr Montgomery, can I speak with you?"

Addison looked at Izzie confused, and then back at Alex who was still glaring at her. "Sure, Stevens. Can you get me a drink Alex? I'll be over in a second." She dropped a kiss on his cheek as he reluctantly dropped his arm from her and made his way to the bar.

She turned to Izzie. "So you wanted to talk?'

"Alex pointed out that I'm rude to you." Addison raised an eyebrow but remained silent. "So I am apologising."

"Why?" She said simply.

Izzie looked confused. "Why?" She repeated.

Addison sighed. "Why are you apologising? Because you are sorry or because Alex told you that you had to?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. Because one of them means you don't mean it and you are going to continue being a bitch to me." Izzie looks shocked at her bluntness and she sighed. "Can I ask why you hate me? Is it the quints thing still?"

"No." Izzie said. "Well, yes, but no. I got over that, almost."

"Then why?"

Izzie shifted nervously, looking like she was just going to run rather than answer the question. She took a deep breath and looked Addison in the eye. "I'm jealous, okay?!"

"Jealous…" Addison repeated slowly. "Of me dating Alex?"

"No. Yes." She sighed. "I don't want to date Alex or anything. It's just… he's always been interested in me. Even when we're just friends, he has always looked after me and done everything for me. And even though I don't want him anymore, there's a part of him that wanted me for a long time, and I don't like that now he's with you, that's gone." She blurted out in one breath.

Addison shook her head slowly. "That's ridiculous. And selfish. You're saying you don't want Alex but you don't want him to be with anyone else. It's ridiculous! Alex will always care about you. Always. You're one of his best friends and his family. Why do you think I've let you get away with you being a bitch to me for so long? But what I don't get is why. He's always been there for you, but I can't think of a single time you've been there for him. He's _happy_ with me. Is that not enough?"

Izzie looked like Addison had just killed her puppy. "Dr Montgomery…"

She gave Izzie a small smile and reached out and squeezed her arm. "Look, all I'm saying is that, once you get over the whole adulterous bitch thing, I'm a nice person. And I want Alex to be happy. We could be friends. Just think about it, okay?"

With that she walked over to the bar, accepting the drink from Alex with a kiss. "Everything okay?" He asked.

She smiled and looked at Izzie. "Everything is fine."

* * *

Alex danced with Addison in the middle of Joe's, something he wouldn't even consider doing for any other woman. It was worth it to see the smile on her face as he spun her round, laughing as he pulled her to him for a kiss. The song ended and a slower song came on, Alex pulled her closer to him and she rested her head on his shoulder, smiling up at him.

She brushed her lips against his jaw. "Did you know you're the only person in the whole world who calls me Adds?"

"Seriously?"

She hummed in agreement. "I've always just been Addie."

"I prefer Adds. It suits you more."

"How come?"

"The only people I've ever really heard call you Addie are Shepherd and Sloan. I never met the woman before Seattle, but the woman you are now, the woman who was hurt countless times by those two idiots, I'm guessing she's not the same woman as before. That woman was Addie, but you, my beautiful, strong girlfriend, who went through all the crap and turned out still so amazing, you're Adds." He shrugged.

She pulled back and looked at him in the eye, a smile on her face. "You always say the most perfect crap, you know that?"

He chuckled. "Well, my perfect crap for the perfect woman."

She frowned. "How did you manage to make the word crap romantic?"

"It's a talent." He smirked. "I can show you what else I'm talented at later."

Addison hit his chest. "Ass." She muttered as she blushed bright red.

* * *

She rolled off him later that night, panting heavily as she tried to catch her breath. "That was, um, wow." He chuckled. "You really are talented at that. You should consider giving up surgery and just doing this all the time." She looked sideways at him, raising her eyebrow.

He turned on his side and rested his hand on her hip, smirking down at her. "You're not too bad yourself, you know." She slaps his chest and he chuckled. "Okay, so you're freaking amazing." She let out a giggle as he bent down and kissed the tip of her nose. "Seriously, you're the best birthday present ever."

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her for a kiss. "As perfect as I am, I'm not your only present." She gave him a flirtatious wink as he laughed at her.

"You didn't have to get me anything, Adds."

She shrugged. "I know. But I'm your girlfriend and I wanted to."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

She kicked his shin but smiled at him anyway, stealing a kiss before climbing out of bed and reaching into one of her shoe boxes. She pulled out a small wrapped present and clambered back on top of him, grinning as she placed a small kiss on his lips.

He smirked at her. "You hid it?"

She leant back and tucked her hair behind her ear, raising an eyebrow. "I don't trust you."

"Ouch." He feigned a wounded expression but couldn't help smiling as he sat up slightly and took the present from her. "You still shouldn't have bought me anything."

"Shut up and open it." She said, rolling her eyes and nervously twirling her hair around her finger.

He pulled off the wrapping and looked at the dark blue leather book in his hands, running his fingers over the word engraved on the front. "It's a recipe book." He said confused.

She blushed the same colour as her hair. "It's empty. I just didn't want to get you anything big because I knew you'd hate it and I remember you telling me about how your grandma taught you to cook when you were younger and what with your brother visiting I thought it'd be nice for you to have a good reminder of your childhood. It's too stupid and personal I know, I overstepped…"

"Addison…"

"Oh God, I don't know why I got it, it's just Meredith was saying that I should get you something personal and I just thought I'd give you somewhere to write all the recipes down and then one day you could pass it on to your kids. It's so stupid! I don't even know if you want kids and I'm a massive idiot and you hate it." She finished her rant and hid her face in her hands.

Alex placed the book on the bed next to them, before reaching up and tugging on her hands, pulling her to him. "You're cute when you're flustered." He placed a kiss on her head.

"I didn't overstep?" She mumbled into his chest.

He laughed at that. "No, you could never overstep. I love the present and if you had quit your rambling you'd know that." He poked her side lightly. "Adds?"

She looked up cautiously from his chest. "I being crazy and neurotic again?" He nodded and she groaned. "Why do you put up with me?"

He smiled at that and gently brushed a kiss on her lips. "Because you are the love of my life, crazy woman. And I really love the present, it's the most thoughtful gift I've ever got."

"Yeah?" She smiled sheepishly.

"Yes." He pulled the covers over both of them when she shivered and wrapped his arms tightly around her. They lay in silence for a moment as he lazily traced patterns down her spine.

"You're the love of my life too." She whispered, causing a small grin to cross Alex's face.

"Seriously?"

It was her turn to laugh now. "Seriously, honey. I am in love with you. I can never imagine not being in love with you. I'm in this for the long run." She tipped her head back and kissed his jaw.

"I'm in this for the long run too, Adds."

"Good." She murmured into his chest.

"Good." He replied as he dropped a kiss on her head.

* * *

Addison fidgeted in bed the next morning, tracing circles on Alex's chest.

"Stop thinking so loudly." Alex groaned.

She smiled and sat up a bit, brushing her lips over his. "Sorry, honey, did I wake you?"

"Yes." He grumbled. "And on our day off as well."

She giggled, trailing kisses down his chest, reaching her hand further south. "I wonder how I can make it up to you." She teased.

He grabbed her wrist and flipped her over, pinning her to the bed, kissing her hard before pulling away. "Or you could tell me what you are thinking about that woke you up so early."

She smirked as she wriggled underneath him. "Alex Karev, are you turning down sex?"

He groaned slightly, as rubbed against him. "I'm not turning down sex, I am delaying sex. Sex is definitely happening this morning."

"You're very sure of yourself, aren't you?"

He rolled off her and pulled her to his side. "The quicker you ask me what you want to, Adds, the quicker we can get back to the fun stuff."

"Why do I always have to ask the question?" She huffed. "If you know what I want to ask, you ask it."

He rolled her eyes at her. "Fine, but I already know your answer." She opened her mouth to protest, but he brought his finger to her lips to cut her off. "I'll ask anyway to keep you happy. Do you want kids?"

"Yes." She breathed, and he gently combed his fingers through her hair. "I always have wanted a baby, it just never was the right time with me and Derek. Or with Mark. I don't know. All I know is I want a baby…kids. I want to be a mom."

He kissed the top of her head and laughed slightly. "I knew all of that. You're my best friend, Adds, have been for almost a year. I know these things about you."

She blushed. "Then how come I don't know these things about you?"

"Cause I'm a guy. I don't normally do the whole 'talking about feelings' crap." He smirked.

"Ass." She hit his chest. "So do you? Want kids, I mean."

He was quiet for a moment as he continued to run his hand through her hair. "I never saw myself having kids. You know all about my family, about my life growing up. I never saw myself as a guy who was going to settle down, get married and have kids. You heard what Aaron said: a string of one night stands…"

"Oh." Addison whispered.

"Hey." He cupped her face gently and looked into her eyes, noticing the tears forming in them. He brushed his lips on her forehead. "I never saw any of that for myself until I met you Addison. I love you, I am in love with you. And if I'm honest it scares the shit out of me sometimes."

She laughed nervously. "Alex, what?"

"I look at you and I see forever. I see you, walking down an aisle. I see a house with a garden and a dog. I see little red-headed kids, who look just like you, running round. You are it for me, Adds, you're my forever."

She reached up and wiped the tears from her face. "You are making me cry, damn it Alex. You're saying perfect crap again."

He chuckled and kissed her cheeks lightly. "What I'm saying is yeah, I want kids. With you. I want to teach them to cook and pass on the recipe book."

She smiled at him. "You are my forever too, Alex." She captured his lips in a quick kiss. "You might have to teach me to cook too. I don't want to kill the kids with food poisoning while you're at work."

He laughed at that, sitting up and climbing out of bed, holding his hand out to her. "Should we start with breakfast?"

"What happened to sex?" She frowned as she allowed him to pull her out of bed and flush against him.

"Food first then shower sex." He kissed her quickly before leaning to whisper in her ear. "Trust me, you're going to need some energy for what I've got planned."

She let out a slight whimper as he pulled away from her and started to pull on some clothes. "God, I love you, Alex Karev."


	12. Bright Sunshine On This November Day (1)

**A/N: I know, I know, I've been awful at updating. Both this and 'Baby Don't Forget My Number'. I apparently struggle at ending things... However, I am back with a 2 part November! Here's part 1, let me know what you all think, thanks to everyone still reading and reviewing. You know I love it x**

Addison smiled as she stood in the corner of the room, watching Alex give his interns their assignments. She watched the last one leave and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Seeing you in charge is a bit of a turn on." She whispered into his ear.

He chuckled and kissed her quickly. "I just sent an intern to look for you in the NICU. Didn't realise I sent them on a wild goose chase."

She laughed at that. "Don't worry, I'm heading there now. Just couldn't resist saying hello to my boyfriend."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "What's up with you? You're weirdly cheery today."

"I just have barely seen you this week…"

"And that puts you in a good mood?" He asked sarcastically.

She hit his chest. "No, ass. I was just excited to see you. All grown up with your own interns."

"Want to eat lunch with me?" He smiled.

"Always." She kissed him quickly. "Now, I have to go find my intern. Get to work, Dr Karev."

She walked off and threw a wink over her shoulder. "See you at lunch, Dr Montgomery."

* * *

Addison walked into the cafeteria and collapsed into the seat next to Alex. He wrapped his arm around her as she dropped her head on his shoulder. He pushed a piece of red velvet cake and a vanilla latte towards her. "It's the good stuff. Not hospital cafeteria junk."

"Thanks." She muttered, taking the fork he handed her.

He watched her as she ate the cake, running his hand lazily up and down her side. "I heard about your patient."

"Yeah." She whispered, her voice cracking slightly. He squeezed her tighter and dropped a kiss on her head.

"Sucks." She hummed in agreement. "I told your intern to cover your post ops. He won't do as good of a job as I used to do as your intern, but still you have the rest of the day off."

"Alex." She scolded. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Addison." He mocked and she glared at him. "Maybe I shouldn't have, but I don't have anything more today and you could use the time off. Trust me."

She sighed. "If we don't have to be here, why are we sat in the hospital cafeteria?"

"I wanted to butter you up with cake first so you didn't kill me." He shrugged.

"Smart move, Karev."

He chuckled at that. "Come on, Adds, I'm taking you home."

* * *

"Alex, what are you doing up there?" Addison called as she made her way up the stairs to the bathroom. She peered round the door to see him lighting candles, the bath filled with bubbles and a bottle of wine on the edge. "Alex, what's this for? She said softly.

He smiled sheepishly at her. "You look like you needed to relax, you've been working too hard this week." He pulled her to him for a kiss, then smirked."Now get naked, Adds."

She rolled her eyes at that. "There's the Alex I know and love." She said as she stepped back and unbuttoned her blouse, unzipping her skirt and pushing that down, before stepping out of her underwear and into the tub. She sighed and settled back into his chest as he climbed in behind her, closing her eyes as she tipped her head back against him.

He lightly ran his hands over her before wrapping his arms around her. "This has been kind of a sucky day."

"Yeah." She breathed. "It's getting better now though." She shivered as he placed a kiss on her neck.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No. You already know what happened." She sighed and turned her head slightly to kiss him. "Ask me a question instead."

"That's a struggle. I already know most things about you." He chuckled. "I've got one. If you had one last day on Earth how would you spend it?"

"You couldn't have asked me an easy question, could you?"

"Where's the fun in that?" He teased. "So, how would you spend it?"

"With you." She answered without hesitation. "I'd spend all morning in bed with you, doing nothing really, just talking, kissing, a bit of sex, you know? Just being together. Then we'd go to work, do a really kick ass successful surgery together. We'd go to Joe's and I'd have a drink with Callie and Miranda but we'd sneak home early, because you'd be feeling me up any chance you got. We'd have some mind blowing sex then you'd kiss me, tell me you love me and hold me in your arms until I fall asleep."

"That does sound pretty perfect." He admitted.

"Yeah." She sighed as he trailed kiss across her neck. "How'd you spend your day?"

"I'd wake up just before you, watch you sleep for a minute, you look so peaceful when you're asleep. Then I'd kiss you softly to wake you up, we'd have some crazy hot sex and lie in bed until we had to get up because you were hungry. We'd go downstairs and Izzie would've made french toast and pancakes and we'd see everyone for breakfast: Meredith, Izzie, Yang and O'Malley. It'd be snowing outside and we'd wrap up warm, I'd pick you up and dance with you in the snow. Twirl you round until you're laughing. We'd stay there until we were frozen from the cold, then get in the bath like we are now. We'd order pizza after, chicken and pineapple, as I'd do anything for you. We'd lay in bed, eating pizza and drinking beer, talking about anything and everything. Then more sex probably. And I'd hold you until I fell asleep."

She smiled softly and repeated his earlier words. "That does sound pretty perfect."

He resumed his trail of kisses, pausing to look at her and smirk. "Would it ruin the moment if I felt you up right now?"

"Yes." She laughed and hit him. "Ass." She twisted in his arms to place a heated kiss on his lips, the water sloshing over the side slightly. "I am so in love with you."

He grinned back at her. "I am really in love with you too."

He leant forward and kissed her, pulling her flush against him. He pulled back abruptly when the bathroom door slammed open and Derek stood there open mouthed. "Shepherd, get out!" He yelled as he tried to cover Addison to the best of his ability.

"Oh God, Derek, leave! And cover your damn eyes!" She snapped.

"Oh don't worry, I've seen it all before." Derek smirked as he turned to walk out, closing the door behind him.

"Ass!" She screamed after him as she rested her head on Alex's chest. "We need to get our own apartment."

"House."

"What?" She looked at him confused.

"We need to buy our own house. 3 or 4 bed, decent sized yard, close to the hospital and plenty of storage for all your shoes. We're in this for the long run, so why waste time in an apartment?"

She looked at him incredulously. "Where did the cocky ass intern with commitment issues who I knew when I came here go?"

He shrugged. "He met this amazing, gorgeous woman, fell in love and grew up." He kissed her and the usual cocky smirk fell back in place. "What do you say Adds? Want to buy a house with me?"

"Oh, definitely." She smirked back at him.

* * *

Addison lay on the couch with her head on Alex's lap, when Izzie walked through the front door and flopped onto the armchair. Meredith walked in a few seconds later, shoving Addison's feet out of the way to flop on the couch with a sigh. Addison rolled her eyes and kicked her lightly, before shrugging and resting her feet on her lap, causing Meredith to look at her in surprise.

"What's wrong with you two?" Alex asked.

"Being a surgeon sucks." Izzie snapped. "People keep dying."

"Why do people keep trying to die when we're saving their life? It's exhausting!" Meredith said.

"Tell me about it." Addison replied. "I have decided to never move from this couch again."

Alex chuckled at that and ran his hands through her hair. "What happened to finding our own place?"

Addison shrugged the best she could from her position "We'll take the couch with us. You'll have to move it with me still on it."

Derek walked in at that point and stared at them. "Why is Addison taking up the entire couch?"

"You get to sit on the floor Derek. Far away from me."

Izzie looked between them curiously. "What happened with you two?"

"Does this have anything to do with you guys wanting to move out?" Meredith asked.

"Shepherd walked in on us in the bath as he apparently lacks the ability to knock." Alex stated.

"Too many people have seen me naked or heard me having sex in this house. I need to leave if I have any hope of having any dignity left." Addison kicked Meredith as she laughed at that.

"So you guys are going to buy an apartment?" Izzie questioned.

"Nope." Alex said as he ran his fingers through Addison's hair. "We're going to buy a house."

"A house?" Derek said curiously. "He hasn't knocked you up, has he?"

"Derek!" Meredith snapped at the same time Addison launched one of the couch cushions at his head.

"Ass." Addison muttered.

"I'm only messing with you." He said, rolling his eyes. "I think it's good, you guys getting a house together."

Alex chuckled. "Same here. Less chance of you seeing my girlfriend naked Shepherd."

Derek smirked at them. "Like I said earlier, nothing I haven't seen before."

He was saved from having another cushion thrown at him by Cristina waking through the door. "People keep dying. I brought tequila, please tell me we're drinking and watching Ellis surgeries."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Addison said as she shifted and moved her legs so Cristina could flop on the couch next to Meredith.

"Oh, so you'll move for her." Derek whined from his place on the floor.

"What's going on?" Cristina asked.

"Addison's pissed because Shepherd walked in on her and Alex naked in the bath." Izzie said as she put a tape in the player and Addison blushed the same colour as her hair.

Cristina snickered at this. "I love this house."

"Bite me, Yang." Alex snapped, but he took the tequila she offered him. He passed it on to Addison, who took a sip from her new position in Alex's lap, before offering the bottle to Meredith.

Meredith smiled at her. "For what it's worth, I'll miss you both when you move out."

Addison gave her a genuine smile back. "I'lll miss you too."

They turned their attention to the surgery Ellis was performing as Derek looks between them nervously. "You know, I think I used to prefer it when you two didn't get on."

Everyone chuckled at that and the bottle of tequila continued to get passed round, the losses of the day slowly fading away as they drank and laughed together.

* * *

Addison groaned as she woke up to a banging at the door, burying her head under the pillow as she kicked Alex awake so he could deal with it. "Go away." Alex grumbled.

"Are you two naked? Because I'm coming in anyway." They heard Meredith call through the door.

"Yes." Addison grumbled into the pillow. "We're completely naked. In fact we're having sex right now. Go away."

Meredith ignored her and walked into the room, climbing up on to the bed and getting under the covers next to Alex. "Liar." She shot at Addison.

Alex grabbed the pillow that Addison had over her head and hit Meredith with it. He shifted over to the middle of the bed and pulled Addison against him as she glared at Meredith.

"Someone is not a morning person." Meredith chuckled.

"I have just worked an 18 hour shift. It's my first day off in 2 weeks that I'm not going to spend unsuccessfully looking at houses that all suck. My only plan was to sleep until noon. You have just ruined that, so you better start talking." Addison snapped.

"She is not a morning person." Meredith said to Alex, as Addison groaned again and Alex chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"I'd start talking soon, Mer. I wouldn't put it past her to hit you."

"I'm freaking out." She said as she wriggled under Alex's other arm and lay her head on his chest, causing Addison to roll her eyes. "Cristina's at the hospital and so is Izzie."

"Do you need me to kick Shepherd's ass?" Alex asked.

"Derek's mom is coming to stay. She wants to meet me."

Alex chuckled. "So you do want me to kick his ass for forcing you to deal with parental abandonment issues."

"Yes. No." She sighed. "Mother's don't love me. Mother's like bright and bubbly, and happy, and... Izzie. Mother's love Izzie."

He chuckled at that. "You'll be fine. Tell her she'll be fine, Adds."

They both turned to look at Addison who had visibly paled. "Mrs Shepherd's coming to visit?" Meredith nodded. "And she's staying in this house?" Meredith nodded again and Addison reached out and gripped her wrist. "When, Meredith?" She hissed.

They both looked at her slightly alarmed. "Erm, next week. She's staying until Thanksgiving."

"Alex, do you have vacation time? Can we just book a holiday and run away?"

He chuckled and ran his hand through her hair, pressing her lips to his forehead. "Why are you freaking out? I though Derek's mom liked you?"

"She did." Addison grumbled. "Until I cheated on her son with the boy she practically raised. Tends to put parents off you."

Meredith visibly relaxed at that. "See that makes me feel better. I already look good compared to you."

Alex chuckled at that and Addison hit his chest. "Ass."

He pulled both of them tightly to him. "Both of you need to chill out. It will be fine. You're both amazing woman, plus you have me to protect you. Now stop freaking out." They glared at him. "If it goes badly we can barricade ourselves in here for a week with pizza and beer?"

"That's better advice." Addison said.

"More dark and twisty." Meredith agreed.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Now get out of our bed, Mer, cause I'm going to start making out with my girlfriend and it'll be weird if you're here as well."

Addison blushed at that and Meredith fake gagged. She squeezed Addison's arm in thanks and kissed Alex on the cheek before turning to get out of bed, freezing when she saw Derek standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, smirking at them.

"I keep finding you three in these situations. If you don't stop soon, I'm going to think Meredith's leaving me to start a weird polyamorous relationship with you two."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Dude, I'm being a girl again."

He turned to Addison. "Does this not bother you?"

She glared at him. "When were you going to tell me your mother is coming to visit?"

He had the decency to at least look sheepish. "I was going to tell you later?"

"Can you take your fiancée back? I can only cope with one woman freaking out at a time." Alex grumbled.

Meredith left with Derek and closed the door behind them. Alex rolled on top of Addison and pecked her lips. "You are going to be fine, Adds. You're awesome, remember? Plus, you have me now."

She smiled up at him. "God, I love you. Now didn't you say something about making out?"

He leant forward to whisper huskily in her ear. "You play your cards right and we can do a _lot_ more than making out." He leant forward and captured her lips in a kiss, smiling to himself as she moaned against him.

* * *

Alex walked in from work to find both Meredith and Addison at the table eating muffins, with wine open in front of them as Izzie stood baking more. He chuckled as he greeted Addison with a kiss, grabbing a bite of her muffin as he pulled her up to sit on the chair, settling her on his lap.

"Why are we eating and drinking?" Alex asked as he stole some of Addison's wine as well.

"Derek's at the airport picking up his mom." Izzie supplied.

Alex frowned. "I thought she wasn't coming for 2 more days."

"She decided to catch an earlier flight. An earlier flight!" Addison said slightly hysterical as she shoved another muffin in her mouth.

Alex reached out to stop her reaching for another one, placing a kiss on her neck instead. "I don't think eating your weight in muffins is going to help, Adds." He suppled when she glared at him.

"Well, what is?" Addison snapped.

Alex shrugged. "This." He wound his hand into her hair and pulled her down for a kiss, running his tongue over her lips, groaning as she nibbled on his bottom lip.

"Oh, ew." Meredith said as she sipped her wine.

"I know we've all heard you having sex, but we really do not need to be subjected to live porn." Izzie added.

Alex moved one of his arms from around Addison to give them the finger as he let the kiss slowly trail off. Addison leant her forehead against his, breathless. "Wow." She muttered.

"Wow, indeed."

Addison froze at the new voice and Alex tightened his arm around her. She turned in his lap to see Derek standing there smirking, with his mom standing next to him.

"Mom, this is Meredith, my fiancée." He said as Meredith walked round the table.

"Hi." Meredith greeted, smiling broadly.

Carolyn Shepherd reached out to hug her. "My son has been acting like a dog with his favourite bone hiding you away. I hope you're free for lunch tomorrow. I can't wait to dive in and learn all about you."

Izzie moved round from the kitchen to stand by Addison and Alex. "Mer looks weird." She whispered. "Does she look weird to you?"

"She looks like she's going to pee her pants." Alex laughed.

Addison snorted slightly. "It's probably all the wine we've drank."

Izzie held her hand out. "Hi, I'm Izzie. One of Meredith's roommates. I also work at the hospital. It's nice to meet you Mrs Shepherd."

Carolyn smiled and shook her hand. "You too, dear. How many people live here exactly?"

"Oh, Meredith and Shepherd…Derek obviously. And then just me, Alex and Addison. But they're moving out soon."

Carolyn turned to look at Derek. "You never told me you lived with your ex-wife." She said accusingly. "Next you'll be telling me Mark lives here too."

"Haha, no." Derek said as both Meredith and Alex laughed slightly, and Addison elbowed Alex in the ribs.

"Hi, Mrs Shepherd, I'm Alex." He reached round Addison to offer his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Alex. I'm guessing from the show I saw when we walked in, you and Addison are together." Alex blushed and stammered uncomfortably.

Addison rolled her eyes. "Yes, Carolyn, me and Alex are together. It's, um, good to see you again."

"Oh stop looking so nervous Addie. I'm not going to bite. Everyone seems to have moved on, we can too." She sighed. "Now get off that young boy's lap and give me a hug."

Addison sighed and stood up, giving Carolyn a hug. "So, you don't hate me?"

"I never hated you, dear. I was just disappointed."

"Me too." Addison whispered and Alex reached out and squeezed her hip comfortingly, she turned and shot him a smile.

"Right, so Derek can you show me where to put my bag?"

As Derek led Carolyn out of the room, the occupants all let out a sigh of relief. Alex pulled Addison to him and she hit his chest. "What was that for?" He grumbled as he kissed the top of her head.

"What happened to you protecting me? You were a stammering mess."

He gave her a sheepish smile. "Meredith isn't the only one with parental abandonment issues."

She rolled her eyes at him and kissed him again, pulling away when both Meredith and Izzie started throwing muffin wrappers at them.

* * *

Addison woke up the next morning, kissing Alex softly on the cheek before kicking him hard on the shin. "Ow." He grumbled, opening one eye slightly.

"Good morning, honey." She smiled down at him and gave him a kiss.

"Why is it a good morning?" He grumbled. "It's 4 hours before my shift starts."

"Well, it's only 1 hour until mine and I want coffee." Addison smiled shyly.

"Can't you get coffee yourself? Like any other morning, Adds."

She sighed and pouted dramatically. "Mrs Shepherd is downstairs. I can't deal with this today, so please, _please,_ get me coffee. Because you love me." She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Fine." He sighed, kissing her pout. "Only because you're so damn cute though. And because I am in love with you."

She flopped back on the bed next to him. "Thank you." She sighed. "Do you think I can avoid her for another 10 days?"

"No."" He said as he kissed her gently, pulling some clothes on to go downstairs. "But, you're amazing. And you shouldn't have to."

Alex walked downstairs and saw Carolyn sipping coffee at the table.

"Good morning Mrs Shepherd." He greeted, as he pulled down 2 mugs and got the vanilla creamer out of the fridge.

"Hello, dear. You're Addison's boy toy, right?" Carolyn greeted.

"Yes." Alex answered, pouring the coffee. "No. I'm Addison's boyfriend."

She sighed, looking up from the newspaper she was reading. "You're a lot younger than her." She pointed out.

"Just as much of a difference as Shepherd and Mer." He pointed out.

"Exactly." Carolyn said. "They're engaged though. And you two aren't."

Alex sat down at the table. "Look, I like you. You seem nice. And Meredith is like my sister, so I'm glad you seem to like her. But Adds, she's the love of my life. I'd do anything for her. Yeah, she screwed up but it's not that black and white. Nothing ever is. So you say you forgive her, but this, right here, makes me not like you. Because I'd do anything for Addison and you implying that she's only dating me because I'm an intern too? Not a way to get on my good side."

Carolyn nodded slightly. "You two are serious?"

"She's it for me, Mrs Shepherd. She's the strongest, most amazing woman I know. I love her." Alex said as he stood up, both cups of coffee in his hand.

"Alex?" He turned back at her voice. "I'm glad she's got someone like you." He nodded as he left the room, climbing the stairs back to Addison.

"Here's your coffee, your highness." He said teasingly as he handed her the coffee.

She hit his chest and uttered the standard 'ass' as she accepts the drink and rested her head on his chest. "I heard what you said."

"Eavesdropping, are we?" He said teasingly, nudging her in the ribs.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe. You're it for me too though."

"Good." He offered, as he kissed her. "You never dated me because I was young, right?"

She kicked him as she answered. "Alex, I am in love with you. Trust me, I am dating you _in spite of_ the fact you're young. You know that."

"Makes me feel so much better." He mumbled as he kissed her thoroughly. "But, I get what you mean."

"Good." She muttered into her lips as she replied.

"Good." He echoed.

* * *

Addison walked in her office after a long surgery and settled behind her desk when she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." She called.

Meredith poked her head round the door. "We're friends, right?"

"We live together, I give you advice, I drink with you. Yeah, we're friends."

"Thank God." Meredith breathed as she walked into the office and collapsed on the couch. Addison stood up from her desk chair and sat next to her.

"Are we hiding from Carolyn?" She asked as she stole some fries from the tray Meredith eating from. Meredith nodded. "Me too. I'm guessing for a different reason than you though."

"She's perky. And wants to 'dive in and learn all about me'."

"She thinks I've got a boy toy to take revenge on you and Derek."

"So we're hiding." Meredith said, holding out her fries.

"We are hiding." Addison agreed as she accepted them.

There was another knock on the door and Addison called for them to come in as Mark poked his head round. "Addie, you could've told me Mrs Shepherd was in town."

"We're hiding." Meredith supplied. "Come in and join us."

Mark sat down on the other side of Meredith and raised an eyebrow.

"Wants to know all my dark and twisty past, thinks she's dating a 12 year old to get back at Derek." Meredith supplied.

"Right." Mark said, accepting some fries from Meredith. "So you two are friends?"

Meredith raised her eyebrow. "Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?"

"Hey, no judgment here as long as there's food and a hiding place." Mark said as there was another knock on the door.

"Come in!" Addison called exasperatedly and Alex walked in. "Since when do you knock?"

"Since there seems to be a party in your office."

Addison rolled her eyes as he picked her up slightly to sit on the couch under her. "We're avoiding someone."

"I gathered." He muttered, kissing her on the cheek. "She seems smart, you know. You should have picked a better hiding place."

"Hey, it was discreet when it was just me." Addison protested as Alex chuckled, kissing her neck as he reached for Meredith's fries.

"Meredith, Mrs Shepherd likes you, why are you hiding?"

"She likes me."

"Exactly, she _likes_ you. So why are you hiding from her?" Alex asked.

"Mommy issues." She said simply.

Alex looked between the other 3 people on the couch. "Want to go and hide out in Joe's tonight?"

"Yes." Both Mark and Meredith replied instantly.

"You are the best boyfriend ever." Addison replied, kissing him hard on the lips.

"Ew." Mark said. "If it's not PG-13 I'm going to leave."

"And face Derek's mom?" Meredith questioned. "You'd stay even if they had sex next to us on this couch."

Addison blushed furiously. "That wouldn't happen. I have more class than that, manwhore."

"Adulterous bitch." Mark countered.

"Okay, I'm going to interrupt here and say me and Addison need to head off for a surgery now. We will see you losers later in Joes." Alex said, standing up with Addison.

"You can keep hiding out here." Addison offered as she stood and left the office with Alex.

"Looks like it's just me and you, Grey." Mark offered, stealing her fries.

"Looks like it." Meredith echoed.

* * *

Alex draped his arm around Addison's waist as she leant against him, dropping a kiss on her forehead, as he met her in the lobby. "You ready to go?"

"I promised Meredith and Mark we'd meet them here before Joe's." Addison said as she turned in his arms, kissing him on the lips.

"You're going out for drinks with your ex-husband's fiancée, your ex-dirty mistress and your current boyfriend to avoid your ex-husbands mother, you're life is so messed up." He chuckled at that as she rolled her eyes and hit him.

"Don't remind me." She smiled and shrugged. "My boyfriend is pretty hot though."

"Damn right." He chuckled, kissing her again pulling back when he was interrupted by Mark.

"What did I say about PG-13, Addie?"

Alex rolled his eyes. "Shut it, Sloan, or I'll call Shepherd and tell him to tell his mom where you are."

Mark paled slightly at that. "Okay, I am shutting up now. And here's Grey! So we can leave."

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Surgery." Meredith offered as she hugged Alex and Addison, rolling her eyes as Mark feigned a hurt expression when she missed him out.

"So, you'll hug your fiancé's ex-wife but not her dirty mistress. I'm hurt Grey, I thought I was your favourite. What happened to the club?"

Meredith gave him a hug. "Not a dirty mistress anymore, Mark."

"Mark." All four of them froze as they heard Carolyn approach.

"Mrs Shepherd." Mark said nervously as he pulled away from Meredith and turned towards her.

"You've been avoiding me." She accuses before turning her attention to the other three who were anxiously shifting in the background. "I'll deal with you in a minute."

"What? No." Mark responded, his voice unnaturally high, causing Alex to snicker and both Addison and Meredith to hit him.

Carolyn crossed her arms and looked at him. "You've got that same look on your face as you did when you were ten years old. And you put Derek's favourite frog into the microwave."

Mark grinned guiltily. "I never pressed start."

"What's going on?"

"I slept with her." Mark blurted, waving his hand in Addison's direction.

Carolyn looked between Addison and Alex alarmed. "Oh, Mark! Not again! How could you?"

"No. No. Dude no!" He said, catching on to what it sounded like and holding up his hands in defeat. "Back in New York! And a couple of times after…"

Addison blushed bright red. "Mark, shut up." She hissed, as both Alex and Meredith laughed at them.

"It's just… you practically raised me. Taught me right from wrong. And what I did was definitely wrong."

Carolyn sighed. "It was wrong, but…" She glanced at Alex. "I wasn't there and I'm pretty sure it wasn't as black and white as it may seem."

"I said that." Alex whispered to Addison, nudging her slightly. "I give good grown up advice." She rolled her eyes at him.

"Mark you are still like my son and I'll love you no matter what. Now, Derek's stuck in surgery, do you want to go out for dinner or are you four too busy avoiding me?"

They looked guiltily between each other. "Dinner sounds great." Mark said smiling, and leading her out of the hospital, the others trailing reluctantly behind.

"I'm going to need a lot of cheering up later." Addison muttered to Alex.

"Oh, I can definitely do that." Alex smirked at her.

"Ears. Bleeding." Meredith said as she walked out next to them, shaking Alex off when he laughed and wrapped an arm round her, kissing her cheek.


	13. Bright Sunshine On This November Day (2)

**A/N: I'm back with November part 2. Hope you like it, I know there doesn't seem much of a plot but I just keep getting caught up in the fluff I can't help it. Anyway, please please please let me now what you think! Only 2 chapters left after this one (provided they don't overspill into two parts again) and I would _love_ if I got to 40 reviews for this story... So, just let me know what you think! x**

Addison walked into her office at the end off her shift, smiling when she saw Alex sat in her chair, resting his feet on the desk. "I've missed you annoying me." She said, pushing his feet off the desk.

He smirked at her. "You never find me annoying. I'm charming."

She rolled her eyes at that. "Sure, honey. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

He just held her arms out to her. "Come here, Adds."

She sighed, and curled up on his lap, letting him wrap his arms tightly around her. "What are you doing here?"

"You've been stressed for the last week with Mrs Shepherd here." He shrugged. "So, date night."

She raised an eyebrow. "In my office?"

"I brought take out. We can lock the door. It's a good hideout." He grinned at her.

She leant in and kissed him, wrapping her hands around his neck and moaning slightly when he fisted his hand in her hair. "You are the best boyfriend ever." She breathed, when they separated. "God, I love you."

"Food?" He offered her a bag and she opened it, a small smile spreading across her face.

"You brought me corn dogs?"

He nodded. "They're your favourite."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" She asks with a chuckle.

He reaches out a hand and brushed a stray hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. "I ask myself the same thing about you everyday." He lightly brushed his lips across hers.

She smiled at him, a bright smile which he couldn't help but return. She reached into the bag and pulled out her corndog, settling her head on his shoulder. "What is your favourite thing about Seattle?"

"You." He answered instantly, kissing her cheek. He paused for a moment before continuing. "And Meredith and Izzie. I guess in a way all of the people in our lives. Mostly you, though."

She grinned at him, reaching out a hand to cup his face gently. "Suck up."

He chuckled, kissing the tip of her nose. "What about you?"

"Definitely not the ferry boats. I love the rain. And the deli opposite the hospital. Oh, and my state of the art NICU." She pretended to think for a moment. "I think that's it."

He mock glared, before running his fingers lightly down her sides, causing her to squirm. "Don't be an ass." He muttered.

She stood up from the chair and tried to get away from him, laughing as he caught her waist, tickling her as she fell to the floor. "Alex. Stop." She gasped out.

He smirked and pinned her down, continuing to tickle her as she squirmed under him. "Not until you take it back."

"Never." She managed to say as she hit his chest uselessly.

He leant closer and whispered in her ear. "Take it back." He nipped her earlobe playfully.

Addison glared at him. "Fine!" She managed to get out. "I'll take it back! Just stop." She said breathlessly.

He stopped his hands and placed an open mouth kiss on her neck. "You have to say it."

She moved her hands to his face again. "The best thing about Seattle is you." She kissed him lightly as he ran his hand up her body, lifting her shirt as he went.

They both froze as the door opened and a throat was cleared. They looked up slowly as they saw the Chief standing there with his arms crossed.

"Richard." Addison let out with a squeak, Alex still lying on top of her, her shirt pushed all the way up her body.

"Karev, get off of my Head of Neonatal Surgery." He snapped and Alex scrambled to his feet, reaching his hand out to help Addison up and pull her shirt down, keeping his hand on her waist. She was blushing the same colour as her hair as she tried to pat it down.

She plastered a false smile on her face. "Richard, is there something I can do for you?"

"I was going to ask you for a consult. You're clearly busy."

She winced slightly and Alex squeezed her hip reassuringly. "My shift finished an hour ago actually."

"Right." The Chief paused. "And you decided to have sex on your office floor before you left?"

"I..uh.."

"We were having dinner." Alex blurted.

The Chief scoffed at that. "It looked like dinner. Karev, I warned you about being professional, did I not?"

"Yes, sir." Alex looked sheepishly at him.

He shook his head at the two of them. "Okay, both of you get out of here. Go home. Now."

Addison turned and gathered her purse and her coat as Alex quickly grabbed the bag with the food and his coat, grabbing Addison's hand as they followed the Chief out of her office.

"So, I'll, um, see you tomorrow, Richard." Addison nervously stammered as they stood outside her office.

He glanced at them awkwardly. "Let's never mention this again, Addie. And I never want to walk in on a repeat performance again."

"Right." Addison muttered as he walked off. Alex started to laugh and she hit his chest. "Ass, it's not funny! It's humiliating."

He continued to chuckle as he led her out the hospital and towards his car. He nudged her lightly. "Come on, it was a bit funny, Adds." She glared at him, as he opened the car door for her, softening slightly as he kissed her cheek.

"Ass." She repeated again, but she smiled softly as she looked over at him.

* * *

Addison stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel round her when the door to the bathroom opened and Meredith walked in. "Jesus, Meredith, don't you knock?!"

Meredith looked away and stammered. "I, um, sorry, Addison. I thought Alex was in here. I'll just, um, go."

Addison sighed. "Meredith, wait. Alex is, um, he's in here, too." She blushed as the shower door opened and Alex grabbed a towel.

"This is awkward." Alex smirked as he stepped out and wrapped his arm around Addison.

"I, um, don't know what to say." Meredith said, awkwardly. Addison started to laugh, quietly at first then louder and before long Alex and Meredith both joined in, the three of them quickly dissolving into hysterics.

"Oh my God." Addison managed to gasp out. "Why can't we find a good house? Why does this keep happening to us?"

"Maybe if you guys stopped going at it like sex-crazed teenagers this wouldn't keep happening!" Meredith said.

"Maybe if you knocked before you walked into the bathroom while people were showering, this wouldn't happen." Alex shot back.

The bathroom door opened again as they dissolved into another round of laughter and Derek stood there with his arms crossed. "This is like a bad sense of deja vu." He smirked. "And more of my ex-wife than I thought I'd see again."

Addison glared at him, then paled slightly as she saw Carolyn walk up behind him. Derek continued to talk oblivious. "So the three of you in the bathroom together again. Oh, Mer please tell me you walked in on Karev and Addie doi-"

"Derek, shut it." Addison snapped. She tried to adjust her towel so it covered more skin. "Mrs Shepherd."

The others turned to face her in shock. "Good morning, Addie. Meredith. Alex. This looks very cosy."

Meredith looked between Alex and Addison. "I was just, uh, looking for Alex. He promised to help Izzie cook and she's going nuts."

"Tell her I'll be right down, Mer." He said as he pulled Addison out the door and into their room, shutting the door behind them.

"I, um, need to tell Izzie that Alex is coming before she freaks out." Meredith stammered, as she pushed past Derek and fled downstairs.

Carolyn looked at Derek curiously. "Does this happen a lot?"

"More often than you can imagine." Derek snorted slightly.

* * *

Addison walked into the kitchen an hour later, watching as Alex, Izzie and Carolyn prepared the dinner with Meredith and Derek setting up the table.

Carolyn looked up as she entered. "Addie, nice to see you fully dressed."

Addison blushed but before she could say anything, Alex moved round the counter and pressed a glass of wine into her hands and a kiss on her forehead. "You look hot, Adds."

She hit his chest with her free hand, but grinned up at him anyway. "Not too bad yourself, Karev."

"I get that you two are nauseatingly cute but if you don't get your ass over here and finish the stuffing, I will hurt you Alex." Izzie snapped before glancing at Carolyn, nervously. "Uh, sorry, Mrs Shepherd."

"No worries." Carolyn smiled at her. "What time is everyone else getting here?"

"Cristina and Burke are coming straight from the hospital so should be here at 5, Bailey and her husband and George and Callie should be here anytime from now." Meredith said, sitting next to Addison with her own glass of wine.

"Oh, Mark and Richard are getting here at 5 as well." Derek added.

Addison paled. "Richard's coming?"

Alex chuckled as Derek looked between them. "Am I missing something?"

"Richard may have, um, walked into my office last night and, um…" Addison stammered.

Alex smirked. "The Chief walked in on me laying on top of Adds with her shirt practically off."

"Alex!" Addison snapped. "You're an ass."

"Ooh, lover's spat!" Izzie said as she didn't look up from her cooking.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Oh please, you love me and my ass."

"It is a nice ass." Addison said as both Derek and Izzie fake gagged and Carolyn cleared her throat awkwardly. "Oh God, I can't believe I said that."

Alex chuckled before taking pity on her. "Come over here Adds and I'll teach you how to make stuffing."

"Alex, she screws up my Thanksgiving meal, you are both dead to me." Addison glared at Izzie, who raised her hands in defence. "No offence, Addison, you almost messed up reheating soup the other week."

"Iz, leave her alone." Alex pulled Addison to him, kissing her neck. He handed her the next ingredient and told her what to do next. "Adds, don't listen to her. You've got this."

"Happy Thanksgiving!" George called as he and Callie walked in to the kitchen.

Addison relaxed against him as the attention turned to the newcomers. She turned slightly and smiled at Alex. "Happy Thanksgiving honey. I love you."

He kissed the tip of her nose, causing her to giggle slightly. "And I love you, Adds."

* * *

They all sat round in the living room, chairs brought in from the dining room to make room for the extra guests.

"That food was amazing." Cristina said from where she was lying on the floor. "You outdid yourself Barbie."

"Don't call me Barbie." Izzie snapped.

"Ooh someone's touchy." Cristina laughed.

"Enough." Bailey said. "I deal with your childish arguing all day everyday in the hospital. I do not need it on my Thanksgiving."

Alex chuckled at the indignant look on Cristina's face from his position on the armchair with Addison. "Yang, you just got told." He chuckled.

Addison elbowed him in the gut. "You heard what Miranda said. Don't be an ass."

He kissed her and mumbled an apology.

"Karev, you are so whipped." Derek laughed.

"Like you aren't the same with Meredith." Addison shot back.

Mark chuckled. "She's right. Women can always wrap you around their little fingers. I remember what you were like with Addie."

"Addie doesn't count." Derek said with a smirk. "She's Satan."

Everyone looked on in interest at the three attendings arguing. Addison opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by Carolyn. "I've been around you three for enough years to know this never ends well." They rolled their eyes and looked vaguely sheepish as everyone chuckled. "Remember when you boys were young, every Thanksgiving we made a point to say what we were thankful for. We should do that."

"I'll start." Mark said. "I am thankful that we are all here together again. I didn't think we would ever be."

Derek snorted. "Me neither."

"Derek." Meredith warned as Callie jumped in quickly to prevent an argument.

"I am grateful for all the new friends and people in my life. George, Bailey, Addison…"

They all smiled at that and continued round the room. Bailey and her husband both said they were thankful for little Tuck. Cristina mentioned a surgery she performed which caused Burke to roll his eyes at her. Eventually, they made it all the way around the room and the only two left were Addison and Alex.

"Addie?" Carolyn questioned.

"I am thankful for new beginnings. For new friends…" She looked at Callie, Bailey and Meredith. "And for new starts with old friends." She smiled at Mark and Derek. "And for another shot at a happy ending." She finished, cupping Alex's face softly and kissing him lightly on the lips.

Cristina fake gagged. "I liked you better when you were Satan."

"Shut it, Yang." Alex snapped.

"Karev." The Chief stepped in quickly. "What are you thankful for?"

"What?" Alex turned his attention away from glaring at Cristina to look at the Chief.

"He's asking, Karev, what you are thankful for. We've all had a go, it's your turn. That's how this works." Bailey said dryly, causing the others to snicker.

"Oh, um, Addison?"

"Yes honey?" She looked at him curiously.

Alex turned red and looked at his hand, which was anxiously tracing circles on her hip. "No, um, what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for Addison."

Cristina and Izzie both fake gagged loudly and Derek and Mark laughed until Carolyn hit the back of their heads. "Leave the poor boy alone."

Addison nudged him playfully. "You're thankful for me, huh?"

Alex gave a small smile. "I am. Thankful for you. My very hot best friend and girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes. "How can you be a pig even when you're being sweet?"

"You love me." He smirked.

"So much." She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for long kiss.

"Oh, I don't need to see any more of that." Derek called.

"Me neither." The Chief muttered.

"Exactly how many people have walked in on you?" Bailey asked raising an eyebrow.

Addison turned the same colour as her hair. "I'm, um, I'm not going to answer that Miranda."

"Oh, Addison Montgomery, you are nasty." Bailey laughed.

"Leave the girl alone. Lines of deliciousness, right Manhattan?"

Addison just groaned as she buried her face against Alex's chest, and the rest of the room laughed at them.

* * *

"Hello?" Addison called as she walked into the house, surprised to find it quiet for once.

She heard Alex's voice from the next room. "In the kitchen."

She walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight in front of her. The table was covered in candles and a single red rose sat in a vase in the middle, while Alex stood in front of a pan, stirring it. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Hey, honey." She kissed his neck slightly. "Aren't you meant to be working tonight? What's all this for?"

"I got Izzie to take my shift." He turned and kissed her softly. "So everyone is on the night shift, Mrs Shepherd is finally gone, so date night round 2. Just like the last time, but without the Chief catching you topless."

She pulled back slightly and hit his chest. "You are _unbelievable._ "

"Oh, I know." He smirked

"Ass." She smiled at him. "Thank you, though. This is perfect."

He brushed his lips softly against hers. "Go and get changed. Dinner will be ready by the time you're back."

Addison walked back into the kitchen 5 minutes later to find Alex placing the plates on the table. He pulled her chair out for her, causing her to roll her eyes and smile at him. They ate their meal, chatting about Addison's cases of the day. As they finished, Alex walked over and turned on the radio before standing in front of her and offering her his hand.

"Dance with me."

She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Honey, you hate dancing."

He chuckled. "Yeah, but you love it and I love you. So take my damn hand and dance with me."

She let him pull her up and to him, smiling at him as she rested her head on his shoulder and swayed to the music. "Tell me something I don't know about you." She asked, breaking the easy silence between them.

"That's a demand, not a question." He smirked. "You're not my boss at home, Adds."

"Haha very funny." She said dryly, before putting on an overly sweet voice. "What don't I know about you, honey?"

"I never went to prom." He said after a while. "Unless you count the disastrous prom that shall not be named of 18 months ago."

She hit him at that. "Yeah, we're not talking about that."

"I was going to go. I had this prom date I really liked, I bought her this bracelet and everything. Apart from you and Izzie, she was probably the only other girl I've ever liked. But I came home, ready to go to prom, and my Dad was drunk, he was breaking things, so I stayed home with him. And I never spoke to my date again. Thought she would think I stood her up and wouldn't want to talk to me or whatever."

She danced with him for a few more minutes before speaking again. "I went to my prom. It sucked. I was a band geek. I had braces and a lisp. My date's name was Skippy Gold and I spent the whole night talking about Star Wars with him."

He let out a chuckle at that. "Seriously? You? Addison Forbes Montgomery a band geek? Are there photos?"

"Shut up." She mumbled into his chest. "If we met in high school, you would not have given me the time of day."

"I was 8 when you were in high school." Alex pointed out.

She groaned slightly as he laughed. "Now I feel old and gross."

"You may be old but you're hot." She glared at him. "I was kidding! Adds, you're not old, 8 years is nothing."

"If you know what's good for you, Alex, you'll shut up and change the subject."

"Fine." He kissed the top of her head. "What don't I know about you, Adds?"

"I'm not a natural red head."

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back from his body, frowning at her hair. "Seriously?!"

She smiled mischievously. "Yep. I'm a brunette. So we probably won't have those red headed kids."

He moved his hand from her shoulders, running his fingers through her hair. "I love your hair like this. Fiery. Like the devil." He smirked.

"Satan." She corrected breathlessly as he fisted his hand in her hair and ghosted his lips over her jaw. "I know you like it." She whimpered slightly as he nipped at a spot behind her ear.

"I love you." He said huskily in her ear.

She pushed him off her and pulled her shirt off, before slowly unzipping her skirt and dropping to the ground. He visibly swallowed at the sight of her in nothing but lacy red underwear. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him expectantly. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

He stepped forwards and wrapped his arm around her waist. He lifted her up and she wrapped her long legs around him. He kissed her neck, grazing his teeth across the skin. "I love you too." She breathed, before giving him a wicked smile. "Now take me to bed."


	14. A December to Remember (1)

**A/N: So December was two parts in the end. I couldn't help it! A little bit of drama in part 1 and a little bit of fluff too. Can't help myself with the Addex fluff! Please please please review (yes I'm shamelessly begging here lol), I love every single review I get and I appreciate knowing what you all think! x**

"Karev, what would your course of treatment be?"

Alex stood in the patients room on rounds with his interns and Bailey. "Labs have come back clean and the ultrasound shows no sign of where the abdominal pain is originating from. I would do a few more tests, and a contrast CT, but if those don't show anything, I would perform explanatory laparotomy."

"Good, Karev, if you get two of your interns and-" Bailey was cut off by Meredith running into the room, causing all of the occupants to look at her.

"Alex, you need to come now."

Bailey looked at her outraged. "Er, excuse me! Mrs Harris I am so sorry about this." She said to the patient before turning back to Meredith. "Grey, what are you thinking? You can't just barge in here and interrupt when we're talking to a patient."

"Dr Bailey, I'm sorry, but Alex you need to come _now._ " Meredith urged.

Alex frowned at her. "Mer, what's going on?"

"There's been an accident, Alex. It's Addison. She's, she's been in an accident."

Alex paled and Bailey took a sharp intake of breath. "Karev go with Grey now, I'll be down when I've finished here."

Bailey hadn't even finished before Alex was running from the room, Meredith shortly behind him. He ran into the ER. "Mer, where is she?"

"Trauma 1." Alex burst into the room and stopped when he saw her on the bed, surrounded by the Chief, Derek, George and Cristina.

"Damn it." He choked out and the eyes flew to him. "What happened?"

"Karev… Alex." The Chief started. "There was a car accident. Drunk driver skipped a light. Ultrasound showed that she has a lot of internal injuries. We need to get her to surgery."

"I'm coming with you."

Derek looked at him with pity. "Alex, you can't come with us. We've got this. You need to trust us. We've got this."

Alex looked at Addison, surrounded by monitors as they clicked the sides of the bed in place and prepared to move her. Her red hair looked less fiery than normal, dulled by the blood across her body and the grey pallor of her skin. They started to move the bed towards the door, stopping as he stood in the way. "Derek, _please._ I need to be there."

Derek sighed. "Move out of the way, Karev. You can walk with us until we get to the OR. Then you're gone, not even in the gallery you understand?"

"But-"

"Alex." Cristina interrupted, her words harsh but her voice soft. "None of us can do this with your sad 'don't kill the love of my life' eyes watching us. Just let us take care of her."

Alex glared but moved forward and took Addison's hand in his, hurrying along the corridor with them. They reached the elevator and climbed in, the Chief adjusting her IV as Alex's gaze remained fixed on her face. George moved his hand to Alex's shoulder.

"It'll be okay." He said softly.

"Don't." The word ripped from his body and a tear made its way down his face. George let go immediately and moved away, the others seemingly understanding his need for silence as the elevator reached the OR floor.

As the doors opened, they took off at a run again until they reached the authorised personnel doors. The point of no return; separating the medical professionals from the loved ones. The Chief frowned as Alex made to go with them.

"Karev. This is where you stay." His voice was gentle, but the tone made it clear there was no room for arguments.

Alex let go of her hand, moving his own up to her face. His finger tips lightly traced the sides of her face, before brushing her hair back. He leant forward to kiss her forehead gently. "I love you, Adds. You're the love of my life, you don't get to leave me." George and Cristina looked up as Meredith and Bailey approached them, tears in their eyes as they heard Alex's words. "You hear me Adds, don't leave me."

Bailey grabbed his arm. "Karev, they need to go now."

He just nodded silently as he watched them wheel Addison away before he turned around slammed his fist into the wall. Leaning his forehead against the wall, as he kicked it repeatedly, sobs overtaking his body.

"Alex!" Meredith said in shock, moving towards him. "Stop, come on, Alex!" She rested her hand on his shoulder and he tried to shake her off. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, holding him in place, he kept trying to free himself from her grip. "Alex calm down, you'll hurt yourself, stop!"

His kicks slowly stopped and he sank to the floor, Meredith still holding him. He angrily wiped at his eyes, looking up to see some nurses staring at him. Bailey noticed and glared at them. "Um, don't you all have something better to do?"

They all anxiously ran off, and Bailey walked over to Alex, grabbing his arm and forcing him to his feet. She shoved Alex towards the waiting room pushing him down into a chair. "Grey, go into the OR and stay until you get a full update on her condition."

As Meredith walked away, Bailey took the seat next to Alex but kept her eyes fixed straight ahead. "You know, I remember seeing Addison in Joe's 2 days after prom, after the whole nasty McDreamy prom sex business. She was drunk off her ass, we weren't friends then, ranting on and on about panties, getting fat and saying how she was 'wildly attractive'." Alex let out a humourless laugh at that. "The woman was a mess, not just that day but for a long time. I mean, I saw her throw up at Meredith Grey's house."

Alex sighed, his hands clenched into fists, ignoring the pain from bruising already forming across his knuckles. "Do you have a point, Bailey?" His voice was hoarse.

Bailey sighed. "I'm saying since New Year I've never seen her smile so much. I know I've always made my feelings clear on intern/attending relationships clear but you're good for her. So, you need to buck up."

"Excuse me?!" He said incredulously.

"This is awful. I know it is. But you need to stay string for Addison right now. You don't get to break down or fall apart. Not while she is in there fighting for her life. Because she is still _alive._ She's going to get through this and she's going to need you to be there for her."

More tears escaped and moved down his face. "You're right. I know you are. It's just…she is everything to me and if she doesn't make-" His voice cracked. "If she doesn't make it, I don't think I will either."

Bailey reached out and gripped his hand tightly, squeezing it as they waited silently for Meredith to return.

* * *

Alex and Bailey looked up as they saw Callie run into the waiting room, looking frantically around before she spotted them and headed that way. "I just heard. What happened? Is she okay?"

"Drunk driver skipped a red light." Bailey said as Callie sank into the seat next to her. Alex remained silent, still maintaining his tight grip on Bailey's hand. "Grey should be back any minute with an update."

A small sob came out of Callie. "I can't believe this happened to her. She's Addison freaking Forbes Montgomery. She should be invincible."

The three of them sat quietly when they saw Meredith walking up to them. Alex was on his feet in an instant. "Is she okay?"

Meredith sighed. "There was a lot of free fluid in the abdomen. It must have been We've packed her and got the bleeding under control for now, there is still a lot of damage to repair. It's looking like we're going to have to do a partial splenectomy and one of her kidneys is damaged beyond repair. There's also a lot of uterine bleeding, we're trying to stop it but a hysterectomy would be the safer option-"

"No." Alex cut her off. "Adds wants to be a mom more than anything else. A hysterectomy is the last option. She wants kids."

"Okay." Meredith said softly, laying her hand on his arm. "Okay. I need to go back now, I'll come back with another update."

She turned and walked back towards the OR. Alex sat back in the chair, resting his head in his hands. "Alex." Bailey said softly. "That was good news. They've got it under control. It's good news."

"I know." He said hoarsely, not looking up.

"So, you and Addison have spoken about kids, huh?" Callie asked and Bailey shot her an incredulous look over Alex's head. Callie just shrugged in response.

"Seriously?" Alex looked sideways at her.

"What? We need to do something rather than dwell on what's going on. Plus, she's my best friend and I'm nosy." She said, her voice falsely positive as Bailey rolled her eyes.

"Yes, we've discussed kids." Alex sighed.

"Aww, you two would have the most adorable little kids, I can picture them now. A couple of mini-Addison's running around with her red hair and your brown eyes." Callie gushed.

"They'd be brunette." He said absently.

"What?"

"Adds is actually a brunette. She's not a natural red head."

"Seriously?!" Bailey exclaimed.

"Damn, little Miss Foxy Redhead is faking." Callie smiled to herself. "Your kids will still be freakishly good looking."

"I know." He smirked. "They'll be perfect just like her."

Callie patted him awkwardly on the back as Bailey took his hand again. "You tell anyone I said this Karev, your life won't be worth living, understood?" Alex nodded. "Addison's pretty perfect but you're not so bad yourself."

Alex turned and smirked at her and Bailey used her free hand to swat his shoulder. "Oh, shut it Karev."

Alex winced at the familiar words coming from someone else and the three fell into silence once more.

* * *

Meredith walked into the waiting room with the Chief. They made their way over to where Alex, Callie and Bailey had stood up.

"She's out of surgery and on her way to recovery. We managed to stop all the bleeding and she should make a full recovery. She'll obviously be sore for a while around her incision, and she has a couple of fractured ribs from the steering wheel, but no lasting damage." A collective sigh of relief was let out at the Chief's words but Alex was still tense, turning to look at Meredith questioningly.

She gave him a small smile and grabbed his hand. "We managed to stop the bleeding without needing to perform a hysterectomy."

The words were barely out of her mouth before Alex pulled her to him in a tight hug, kissing the side of her head. "Thanks Mer." He whispered in her ear and she just patted his back reassuringly.

"You can go and wait with her. It shouldn't be too long before she wakes up." He smiled at her, walking quickly towards recovery as the others trailed behind.

He stopped in the door as he saw Addison laying on the bed. Meredith walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's not right. She's always so fiery and strong. Seeing her like this…"

"Alex. She is going to be just fine. She'll be back home, yelling at Derek and getting caught naked all over the house." Alex chuckled at that. "She's Addison. She will be okay but now she needs you to get your ass in there."

Alex patted her shoulder and walked into the room, pulling up a chair next to her bed. He took her hand in his, careful of her IV, and kept his eyes fixed on the steady rise and fall of her chest.

* * *

"A-Alex?" At the sound of Addison's voice, Alex woke up from the light doze he was in. A small smile crossed his face as he saw her eyes on him and a few tears escaped.

"You're awake." His smile turned into a full grin as he brushed a few strands of her hair from her face, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. "You scared the crap out of me Adds."

"What happened?"

"Son of a bitch drunk driver skipped a light and hit your car." He spat out.

She frowned at that. "I had surgery?"

"Yeah, ex-lap. You had a lot of blunt abdominal trauma and free fluid in your abdomen. Webber, Meredith, Yang and O'Malley operated. They did a partial splenectomy and had to remove a kidney. But you're going to be just fine." She winced slightly as she shifted. "Are you okay? Do you want some more pain meds?"

She waved at him dismissively. "You think you could just lie with me?"

Alex frowned. "You have 2 fractured ribs and you just had major abdominal surgery. I don't want to hurt you, Adds."

"You won't. Please, honey, I just need to feel you near me." She begged.

He sighed. "How could I ever say no to you?" He kicked off his shoes and laid gently down on the bed next to her, stroking her hair gently. "You have no idea how scared I was. You're never allowed to do that to me again, okay?"

"Hey." She hushed him. "Look at me. I am okay. I love you so much honey. I'm not going anywhere."

He brushed a kiss over her lips. "I'm so in love with you. Now get some rest."

She smiled at him softly closing her eyes and shortly after she drifted off, he closed his eyes and followed her.

* * *

Callie and Bailey poked their heads into Addison's room. "Hey Manhattan, do you mind if we come in?" Addison waved them in, shifting so she was sat upright on the bed. "We've come to see you loads, we just always seem to catch nap time, sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Addison smiled at them. "Alex has gone home to get me some clothes and I'm bored. Company is what the doctor ordered."

Bailey smiled as she pulled up a chair. "I hear you get to get out of here tomorrow, that's good."

Addison chuckled. "Yeah, don't get me wrong, I do love this hospital. I just much prefer it when I'm on the other side of things. Plus eating hospital food for a week sucks."

They all laughed at that and Bailey grabbed her hand as they trailed off. "You gave us all quite a scare Addison. Karev especially."

"Yeah." She said softly.

Callie smirked at her. "You've done quite a number on Hot Young Intern Boy. He's like a whipped puppy."

"I, um, he was really scared, wasn't he? He watches me now. All the time, like I might break. I don't think he even realises he's doing it."

Bailey sighed. "I was with him from when he walked with you up to that OR. He begged you not to leave him, then he broke down, punched the God damn wall and Grey had to hold him back."

"Is that what happened to his hand?" Addison sighed. "I asked but I didn't want to push it."

Bailey nodded. "He told me he didn't think he'd make it if you didn't. I had to hold the poor boy's hand. He is so in love with you."

"I know Miranda. What are you saying?"

"I think she's saying don't sleep with this one's best friend. He's a keeper." Callie nudged her playfully.

Addison let out a surprised laugh at that. "His best friend is Meredith, so I don't see that being a problem. Or Stevens…"

"Hot." Callie laughed. "A lady threesome."

"Nasty." Bailey muttered as they laughed. "There's an image I didn't need in my head."

"Hey!" Callie suddenly exclaimed, as Alex appeared in the door. "How come I didn't know you aren't naturally a foxy redhead?"

Addison glared at Alex. "You told them?!"

Alex walked over to her side and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Not my fault. Callie kept blabbering on about how cute our little redheaded kids would be."

Addison shot Callie a look and she shrugged. "Come on your kids will be freakishly adorable and you know it. Hey, even Miranda agrees!"

"They will be 'freakishly adorable'." Bailey reluctantly commented.

"Anyway, it just came out. Plus, you would have just disappointed them anyway when you pop out some brunette kids and ruined their mental image of our family."

Bailey and Callie chuckled at that as Addison hit his chest. "Ass. You're so eloquent, you know that?" She said, rolling her eyes.

He smirked down at her. "You love me."

She pulled him down to her. "I do. So freaking much." She kissed him softly breaking away when the heard Bailey awkwardly clearing her throat.

"And _that_ is our cue to leave."

They stood and made their way to the door. "We'll come find you before you break out of here tomorrow."

As the two of them left, Alex sat on the bed next to Addison, running his hand through her long red hair. "I'm going to warn you now, Izzie has turned the house into Santa's freaking grotto. Seriously, it looks like the North Pole or something."

Addison pouted. "You did decorations without me?"

He dropped a kiss on her pout. "Don't sulk with me. I made her leave the tree. I know you can't move that much, but I figured you could at least lay on the couch and boss me around, tell me where all the decorations should go. I know you live Christmas."

"I do." She grinned at him. "You're too good to me, you know?"

He shrugged. "Nah, you're pretty amazing." He kissed her again. "Iz baked Christmas cookies to celebrate you coming home."

She laughed. "That's why we still live there."

* * *

Addison lay on the couch the next day as Christmas songs played loudly in the living room. She smiled as she watched Alex and Izzie bickering over decorating the tree, while she happily munched on the plate of cookies on her lap. They all looked at the door as it slammed open and Meredith walked in, sighing dramatically as she flopped on the foot of the couch.

"Am I seriously going to have to deal with this Christmas crap for the rest of December? It's bad enough I have to deal with it at the hospital, but now my house looks like Santa's elves threw up over it?"

Addison kicked Meredith lightly. "Come on, it looks good! Happy and festive!" She looked over at Alex, who was placing a bauble on the tree. "A little to the left honey." She smiled sweetly at him as he glared at her.

Meredith groaned dramatically. "You're one of those freakishly festive people, aren't you? You're lucky you just were in an accident, otherwise I'd kick you out." Addison just rolled her eyes and held out the plate of cookies to her. "Why couldn't you be a Grinch?" She continued to grumble.

Addison laughed. "Between you and Alex, I don't know how Izzie managed to bully you into all the decorations. You're all Scrooges."

"Hey!" Alex protested. "I'm decorating a tree over here for you!"

"You're doing a great job, honey, carry on. Just… don't you think that bow should go on the branch above?"

Alex angrily moved the bow, before sitting on the floor in front of the couch. "That's it! I've had enough, I'm done." Addison just smiled and ran her fingers through his short hair, placing a kiss on his head.

"I think I'm finished too." Izzie announced, standing back with a hand on hip appraising their work. "What do you think?"

"You forgot to put something on top of the tree." Meredith pointed out, as she shoved another cookie in her mouth.

"Well, I thought Addison could do the honours?" Izzie said, reaching into a box and pulling the star for the top.

Addison broke out into a big grin as she squealed excitedly. She took Alex's hand as he helped her gingerly to her feet, before helping her stand on the chair Izzie had pulled over. "Try not to stretch too much." Alex said as he handed her the star and she rolled her eyes at him.

She placed it on top as Izzie clapped excitedly. She allowed Alex to help her down, before wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him softly on the lips. "I am a surgeon." She said gently. "I know to take it easy. I'm not going to break."

He looked sheepishly at her, reaching to stroke her cheek gently. "I know. I just worry about you. I love you."

She smiled and kissed him again. "I love you too. Now what are we doing tonight?"

"We thought we'd let you choose." Meredith said, as she joined her back on the couch. "As it's your first night home and all."

Addison grinned mischievously. "I'm thinking hot chocolate, junk food and It's a Wonderful Life."

Alex and Meredith both groaned as Izzie squealed happily. "I knew I'd regret letting you decide."

"You can suck it up. I was in a car accident." She fluttered her eyelashes at them.

Meredith sighed. "How long is that excuse going to work?"

She smirked at Alex who rolled his eyes, kissing her on the forehead gently. "A very long time, if I get my way."

They all laughed at that as Izzie moved to get the snacks from the kitchen and Meredith reluctantly put the film in.


	15. A December to Remember (2)

**A/N: I am the _worst._ I know. I haven't updated this since December (3 whole months?!). You guys, however, are the best. I would not have finished this if it wasn't for all your awesome reviews and faves/follows. I seriously want to thank every single one of you. This chapter took a lot of work to finish writing, and I'm still not that happy with it. Only one more left after this, will post by the end of the week. If any of you are still reading, I'd love to know what you think x**

* * *

Addison was lounging on the couch when she heard the front door bang open.

"Finally!" Addison called. "Someone's home, I'm bored out of my mind."

Meredith chuckled as she walked into the living room, sitting next to her on the couch. "Two weeks without work and you're going stir crazy."

"Three. Don't forget the week at the hospital." Addison corrected, before turning to Meredith with a sulky look on her face. "I was hoping that you were Alex."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Thanks I feel so loved." She deadpanned. "What are you watching anyway? Is that me as a kid?"

She looked at the screen. "Oh, yeah. I was watching Ellis surgeries to get my surgical fix. I think this surgery was taped over a home video. You were a cute kid though."

"Well, that just about sums up my childhood." Meredith said dryly.

Addison laughed at that. "So, come on. You're home now. Entertain me."

"Um, Derek keeps nagging me about wedding planning. Or is that too weird?"

She contemplated it for a moment. "Nope, it's cool. You get paper, pens and a laptop, I'm going to get snacks."

They settled back on the couch 10 minutes later, Addison sat with the notepad and pen. "So we're still going small wedding, right?" Meredith nodded. "Okay so let's start easy. Date?"

"I don't know? January? February? Next question?"

"You're not going to be good at this, are you?" Addison groaned exasperatedly.

Meredith shrugged. "That's why you're helping. We already knew I'd be a sucky bride."

She sighed and ran a hand threw her hair. "Okay, go and grab some wine. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

Meredith went into the kitchen and returned carrying 2 large glasses of wine, the bottle tucked under her arm. She handed one glass to Addison before taking a large gulp of her own. "Okay, I'm ready. Go."

Addison shot questions at Meredith, which she half heartedly answered, with Addison doing most of the work.

"I think we're almost done." She said as Meredith sighed in relief. "Ooh wait, are you doing bridesmaids?"

Meredith thought for a moment. "Sure. Cristina, Iz and you."

Addison raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Me? You seriously want your future husband's ex-wife as your bridesmaid?"

"You're helping me plan my wedding, we live together and we're friends. Of course I do." She nudged Addison playfully. "I expect the favour to be returned when you and Alex get hitched."

"I have all of 3 friends here. Trust me, you're pretty much a shoe in. Now, go and grab me some more wine, let's get drunk."

* * *

Meredith and Addison sat giggling on the sofa when the front door opened and Alex and Derek walked in. They eyed the empty wine bottles questioningly as Meredith called out to them.

"Hey, Derek! Alex! You're home!" She turned to Addison and staged whispered. "Hey, Addie, the boys are home!"

Alex rolled his eyes at them as he went over to greet them, Addison throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek as he chuckled. "Mer, when I said to make sure Adds wasn't too bored, I didn't mean for you to get her unbelievably drunk."

Meredith stuck out her tongue at Alex. "Spoil sport. And we're wedding planning!"

"Wedding planning?" Derek questioned. "You're finally listening and planning the wedding?"

"It's planned." Addison said as reached for the bottle of wine, frowning as Alex moved it away from her. "We've organised the whole thing."

Derek rolled his eyes at that. "Great. So my wedding day was planned by 3 bottles of wine."

"Hey, I was sober when I planned _our_ wedding." Addison slurred, waving between her and Derek. "And that ended in adultery and divorce. Maybe drunk planning is the way forward."

"Maybe a wedding without _you_ involved is the way forward." He shot back.

"Dude-" Alex started but was cut off by Addison.

"Well the adulterous whore is in your wedding party as a bridesmaid so suck on that." She announced proudly as Meredith laughed.

Alex shook his head, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "And I think that is my cue to take you to bed, Adds."

Meredith pouted. "We were having fun. We didn't even get to tell you all about our wedding!"

"Tell us in the morning." Derek sighed. "Time for bed for both of you."

They both frowned. "Together?" Addison asked at the same time Meredith squealed excitedly. "Ooh sleepover!"

Derek looked at Alex exasperatedly, who just chuckled. "Not tonight, I'm afraid. Come on, Adds." He picked her up and carried her up the stairs, as she giggled and shouted 'good night' at Meredith and Derek.

He dropped her on the bed gently and climbed and laid down next to her on his side, propping his head up on his arm. He reached a hand up to stroke her hair, pressing a kiss on her forehead. "Did you have fun?"

She nodded slightly, a smile spreading across her face. "Thank you."

"What for?" He frowned as he looked down at her, twisting some of her hair round his finger.

She shrugged. "Why did you decide to be my friend?"

His frown deepened. "What?"

"Back in January, or New Year's Eve I suppose. Why did you want to be my friend?"

"Oh." He smiled softly, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "Do you want to know a secret?" She smiled and nodded. "When I came up to you on New Year's Eve, I was going to ask you out. I did kiss you at midnight after all."

She looked at him skeptically. "Seriously?! Why?"

He chuckled at that. "You're damn hot."

"Ass." She hit his chest. "So why didn't you?"

"You threw up on yourself." She kicked him. "I just thought you could use a friend more. You needed someone."

She smiled up at him and hiccuped slightly. "You're a good guy Alex."

"You were one if the first to see that." He linked his fingers through her hair, leaning down to kiss her softly. "What were you thanking me for, Adds?"

"For being my best friend. I don't know where I'd be if not for you. Not as happy as I am now, that's for sure." A tear made its way down her cheek and he brushed it away.

He shushed her gently. "Don't cry, Adds. And you don't have to thank me."

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"I'll forgive you." He said as he pulled the cover over them. "You are drunk after all."

"Shut it, Karev" She mumbled as she curled into his side, shutting her eyes.

* * *

"Ow." Addison moaned as Alex threw the curtains open and the light hit both of them.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Alex said, cheerily.

She buried her head further under the pillow. "Go away."

Alex chuckled at that, pulling the duvet up and off her. "Come on, up you get. It's Meredith's day off and you have wedding planning to do." He bent and pulled the pillow off Addison's head, swatting her with it. "Just be glad it's me in here. Izzie's downstairs and she's pissed you guys planned it without her. She loves weddings."

Addison groaned loudly and Alex climbed onto the bed next to her, kissing her softly. "Good morning, beautiful."

She smiled softly at him, finally opening her eyes. "Did you hear I'm going to be a bridesmaid?"

He chuckled. "You told us last night."

"Drunk Addison?"

"Drunk Addison." He confirmed, as he ran his hand through her hair, kissing her forehead gently.

"Do I want to know?"

"I believe you said something to Shepherd about the 'adulterous whore' being a bridesmaid." She groaned loudly. "Then you told him to 'suck on that'."

"Delightful." She deadpanned. "I can see why you put me to bed."

"To be fair, I was tempted to punch the guy, so you're good."

"Alex." She scolded. "You didn't, did you?"

He chuckled. "No, I just put your drunken ass to bed." She grinned at him. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just… you're all grown up." She cupped his face gently. "I'm proud of you honey."

"Yeah whatever." He muttered as he leant over to give her a kiss.

* * *

Alex walked into the house on Christmas Eve, finding Meredith, Addison and Izzie sprawled across the living room.

"How is it I just worked 20 hours and you all look more exhausted than me?" He moaned as he sat next to Addison, greeting her with a kiss.

"Last minute Christmas shopping and wedding planning combined. We've been running around all day." Izzie complained.

He frowned at Addison. "You haven't been overdoing it, have you?"

"Jesus Karev, I'm a big girl, I'm fine." She sighed.

He nudged her gently. "Don't 'Karev' me, Montgomery." He paled slightly. "Were we supposed to get presents?"

"Don't worry, honey. I bought everyone a present from us." She kissed his cheek, before laughing softly. "As long as you remembered to buy me a present, we're okay."

He rolled his eyes at that. "Of course I did. What are we doing tonight anyway?"

"Cristina, George and Callie are coming over. We're having Christmas tonight. Well alcohol, presents and takeout." Meredith said.

"How festive." He said sarcastically. "Sounds like the perfect Christmas."

Addison hit his chest. "You're not allowed to be an ass at Christmas, honey."

"It's like the 'honey' softens the blow." He said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Go and shower and change before everyone gets here. You smell like surgery, it's making me jealous." She shoved him lightly.

He smirked at her. "Care to join me?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Addison is not cleared for sex yet. Stop stealing her."

"What? I can still enjoy a shower with my hot, naked, wet girlfriend without sex."

"On the other hand, take her." Meredith said as Izzie gagged and Addison blushed.

"I'm going to kill you, Karev." Addison muttered as she let Alex pull her from the room.

* * *

Addison pulled a reluctant Alex back into the living room an hour later, and everyone took one look at him and burst out laughing.

"Nice pjs, Karev." Derek snickered, as everyone eyed the 'Bah Humbug' fleece pyjamas they had no doubt Addison forced him into.

"Go to Hell, Shepherd." He snapped as Addison ran a hand down his arm, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek.

"You were right, Izzie. They do suit him." Meredith said in between giggles.

He rolled his eyes at that. "I should've known you two would have something to with this."

"In our defence, we didn't think you'd actually wear them." Izzie held her hands up.

Cristina snorted. "Of course he would. He's whipped."

"Shut it, Yang."

Addison placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Why don't you and Derek go and get us some drinks honey while we order some food?"

He stole a quick kiss from her and left the room with Derek, flipping Cristina off as she yelled out 'whipped' after him. He moved round the kitchen grabbing a cooler and filling it with ice and beer for the guys as Derek made margaritas (with plenty of tequila) for the girls at Meredith's shouted requested. They went to move into the living room when Derek quickly stopped him.

"Everything's sorted present wise for tomorrow, yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah, chill out Shepherd. It'll be fine."

"I know, I know. I'm just worried. You think she'll like it?"

"Dude. It will be fine." Alex shuffled the cooler into one arm and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Do you think Addison will like what I got her?"

"Addie'll love it. Trust me, I was married to her for a decade."

"Cause that worked out so well."

Derek rolled his eyes. "God, you and Meredith are exactly the same. She said the same thing to Addie."

"What's taking you so long?" Cristina yelled from the other room.

"For God's sake, Yang, we're coming!"

* * *

They all spread over the living room, eating the pizza that turned up not long after Callie and George. Addison was sat on Alex's lap, her head resting on his shoulder as she listened to him bickering with George and Cristina, a small smile on her face.

"Right." Izzie said as she stood up, clapping her hands together excitedly, moving to collect the empty boxes from everyone. "I'll clean these up and then presents!"

"Ouch, Iz. Your squealing is hurting my ears." Alex muttered and Addison elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to let out a grunt of pain.

She tugged slightly on his pyjamas. "Careful honey. You're living up to your nickname."

He rolled his eyes at her and stole a quick kiss from her, dragging his fingers through her hair. "I can't believe you actually convinced me to wear these."

"It's because you love me." She gave him a flirty wink. "And because I promised to make it worth your while."

"You're still not cleared for sex." Meredith called from where she was lounging on the couch.

Alex smirked at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "We can do things other than sex. Or rather, Addison can do them to me."

"Ew. Ew. Ew!" Izzie squealed as Meredith launched a couch cushion at him and Cristina gagged loudly. Addison turned the same colour as her hair and she hit his chest hard.

"Ass." She tried to pull herself out of his arms but he tightened his grip on her.

"Sorry." He muttered in her ear. "I love you. Forgive me?"

She frowned slightly and he moved his hand up to smooth the crease between her brows. She looked over to Meredith with a sly smile. "You can wear the Santa hat."

"Adds…" He groaned.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him and pouted slightly. "You're supposed to be making it up to me. Because you love me."

He pressed his lips to hers, muttering a 'damn you' against her mouth, before holding a hand out to catch the Santa's hat Derek threw at him.

"When are you going to learn that Addie always manages to get her way?" Derek said as Alex shoved the hat on his head.

Addison scoffed at that. "Oh because I really got my way with you Derek."

Derek opened his mouth to retort, when Callie jumped in quickly. "Didn't you say something about presents, Izzie?"

"Yep, yes. Presents now!"

"Wow, Montgomery and Shepherd's arguing is so bad, they got Barbie talking to Callie." Cristina laughed, until Meredith kicked her shoulder.

"Come on, lets go and make more margaritas." She said, standing up and pulling Cristina towards the kitchen.

"What about the presents?" Izzie frowned.

"Alcohol first, presents later."

Alex raised his beer in a toast. "Now that's the sort of Christmas spirit I can get behind."

Addison rolled her eyes. "If I'd known you were such a Scrooge, I never would have-"

"What? Never would have dated me?" She shook her head sharply, running her fingers through his short hair.

"Bought you a present." She finished before smiling at him. "I already knew you were… _grouchy_ before I agreed to go out with you."

Everyone round the room snickered at that and Alex made a big show of huffing his annoyance. When Callie started telling a story about a case she had the other day though, Alex pulled Addison closer and pressed his lips against her neck. "I love you, Adds."

She smiled softly at him. "I love you too, honey." She kissed him softly, before raising an eyebrow. "Even when you're grumpy."

"We still doing our presents for each other in the morning?" He asked.

She nodded and nudged him slightly. "Our first Christmas together."

"First of many." He countered, stealing another kiss.

She dropped her head onto his shoulder, snuggling into his side as she accepted a new margarita from Meredith. "That was cheesy, Karev."

"I almost lost you a month ago." He murmured into her hair. "I'm allowed to be soppy."

She tipped her head up to kiss his jaw, opening her mouth to reply when she was cut off by Izzy.

"I want to give a toast!" She announced, standing in the middle of the room and holding her glass up. Cristina and Callie both groaned loudly and Izzie turned to glare at them. "Presents were delayed for alcohol, I'm allowed to give a toast."

"Go ahead, Iz." George laughed.

"To being all together at Christmas." She said, raising her glass sloppily, some of the drink spilling over the edge. "All in one piece, more or less." She shot a pointed look at Addison.

"Not my fault." She muttered under her breath, as she raised her glass regardless.

"To surgery." Cristina called, before glancing at Addison. "I mean us doing it, not you having it."

Addison rolled her eyes as Alex laughed, hiding his face behind her shoulder. "Yeah, thanks, Yang."

"To tequila." Meredith called, giggling slightly as she raised her glass. All the girls took a large gulp of their margaritas at that, as George, Derek and Alex shook their heads at them.

"To cutting you off." Derek muttered under his breath.

"To Derek shutting up." Addison called back, causing everyone to snicker slightly.

Alex lightly poked her side. "To no more God damn toasts."

"Aw." Callie smirked at him. "The Grinch is back."

Addison laughed loudly as Alex scowled, giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. He couldn't help the smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, and he turned his head to give her a quick peck. "Love you."

She pulled on the pompom on his Santa hat, causing it to sit at a jaunty angle. "Love you too." She smiled.

* * *

Alex opened his eyes and jumped slightly when he saw Addison's face practically pressed against his. "Shit." She let out a giggle and kissed him quickly. "What the Hell, Adds?"

She gave him a big grin. "Merry Christmas, honey."

He pulled her to him as he sat up slightly, scrubbing his free hand across his face as he groaned. "It's still dark. What time is it?"

"Early." She shrugged before pouting slightly. "But it's Christmas."

"You said." He mumbled against her hair as he tucked her against him.

She poked him hard in the ribs and he left out a grunt of pain. "You not going to wish me a happy Christmas?"

He smiled at her, cupping her face and stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Merry Christmas." She rolled her eyes at him. "We don't have to get up yet, right?"

Addison let out a dramatic sigh against him. "I suppose we can stay in bed for a while." He dropped a kiss on her forehead, running his hand down her body slowly. She slightly slapped his hand as it wandered. "No sex remember."

"You're killing me." He groaned.

She laughed as she gave a pointed look to his crotch, purposefully brushing against it slightly. "I can tell."

He shook his head, tightening his arms around her. "You really are Satan."

"I know."

They lay in silence for a while, Alex drawing patterns lazily over her arm. "What were you doing last Christmas?" He asked.

"Working." She muttered. "I didn't have anyone last Christmas. Well, I mean I still had my parents but I'd rather spend the whole day as Derek's intern than spend Christmas with them. And I kind of still had Mark, but he would have wanted to have sex with me, I remember making that mistake last Halloween and he-"

"Addison, if you don't stop talking, I'm going to go and find Sloan and punch him." He growled out as she chuckled and patted his chest lightly.

"Sorry, I'll stop." She turned her head to kiss the underside of his jaw. "Where were you last Christmas?"

"Working as well."

"Seriously? I didn't see you, and you were supposed to be on my service then!"

He chuckled at that. "Yeah, I was hiding from you. I didn't want to have to spend my Christmas working in the land of the pink and squishy."

"Ass." She hit his chest. "You like the pink and squishy now, Karev."

"I know." He huffed slightly. "What have you done to me, Montgomery?"

"Made you better." She shot him a wink. "I've worked very hard this past year."

He combed his fingers through her hair as he smiled down at her. "Yeah. I am better with you."

He dipped his head to capture her lips in a soft kiss and she pulled back after a minute, wrinkling her nose as he kissed the tip of it. "You know I'm better with you too."

"I don't know about that." He tugged on a lock of her hair. "I think you've always been pretty perfect."

"Cheesy, Karev." She smiled and tipped her head to the side slightly. "And not true. I'm happier with you."

"Good."

"Now get up. I want my present."

He rolled his eyes affectionally. "I guess you didn't get less bossy since going out with me."

"Shut it, Karev."

He chuckled at the glare she was giving him. "Fine. I'm getting up."

* * *

Alex handed Addison her coffee and dropped a kiss on her head, joining her where she sat curled up on the couch staring at the Christmas tree lights.

She frowned slightly at him. "Where's Meredith and Derek?"

"I'm guessing he took her to her Christmas present." She shot him a quizzical look and he wrapped an arm round her. "Dream House."

"He built it?" Alex nodded. "Damn, he built her a whole house. I think he bought me a scarf 3 years running."

Alex smirked and poked her side. "Well, you do love scarves." She hit his chest and rolled her eyes fondly. "Guess it was a good thing that you and him didn't work out then?"

"Well, I wouldn't be with you otherwise."

"I was thinking about all your designer heels and the mud by Dream House." He teased.

"Ass." She kicked him sharply in the shin. "What's going to happen to this place then?"

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I was thinking that maybe we could buy it?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?!"

"Seriously." He mocked, nudging her gently. "I actually already spoke to Derek about it and he thinks it'd be perfect. I mean we couldn't find a house we liked enough and this one is perfect: 3 bedrooms, good sized yard."

"Plus, all our stuff is already here." She added, grinning at him.

"Is that a yes, Adds?"

She darted forwards and pressed her lips against his, twining her fingers through his short hair. "Yes." She breathed when she pulled back, eyes glittering. "Do I get my present now?"

"A house isn't enough for you?"

"Shut it." She teased. "The house isn't just mine. It's _ours._ "

"Ours…" He smirked at her. "I like the sound of that."


	16. Bringing in a Brand New Year

**A/N: So... this is the end. Please stayed tuned to the end for the long rambling of an Author's Note where I thank you all and shamelessly beg for reviews one last time.**

* * *

"Alex! Addison! Get down here and help!"

Izzie's yelling made its way up the stairs to them and Addison rolled her eyes while applying her lipstick. She stood up and gave Alex a twirl, the skirt of her navy blue dress billowing out slightly. "What do you think?"

"Hot." He smirked when he still managed to cause her to blush. She slipped on her favourite red heels and made her way over to him, looping her arms around his neck.

"You're not looking too bad yourself, Karev." She kissed him, moaning slightly as he deepened it, tugging his hands through her hair.

She scowled at him when he pulled back, trying to smooth her her hair down. "You saw how long it took me to do my hair! Ass." She huffed.

He poked her lightly. "I think that half the conversations we have end in you calling me an ass."

"I think that says something about you then, doesn't it?" She teased.

"Alex, I swear to God!" Izzie called again.

Addison rolled her eyes, and shoved Alex out the bedroom, towards the stairs. "Come on, honey. Before she comes up here and drags us down by the hair."

Both Meredith and Derek laughed from where they were leaning against the table as they walked into the kitchen.

"Nice lipstick, Karev." Derek said, handing him a beer.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, glaring at Addison when he saw the smear of lipstick. She shrugged and wiped the corner of his mouth with her thumb. "Red is a good colour on you, honey."

Derek broke down into another round of laughter and Meredith hit his arm as she tried to contain her own giggles. "Shut up, Shepherd."

The doorbell rang and Izzie ran to get it, shouting at them to get the rest of the snacks ready. "Is she this high maintenance before every party?" Addison asked as Alex muttered 'play nice' in her ear.

Meredith handed a margarita to Addison, while shoving Alex in the direction of where Derek was pouring chips into bowls. "She was twice as bad last year. You're lucky you weren't here for that."

"That reminds me." Addison said, taking a sip of her drink. "Why did you even invite me last year? You hated me."

"I never hated you." She gave Meredith a pointed look and she shrugged in response. "I felt sorry for you."

"A pity invite. Lovely." She said dryly.

Meredith nodded her head in Alex's direction. "Worked out alright in the end, didn't it? You should be thanking me."

Addison rolled her eyes in exasperation, and Meredith bumped her shoulder against hers. "Thanks, Meredith." She relented holding up her drink and Meredith tapped her glass against it.

"You're welcome, Addison."

They both were laughing and drinking when Izzie burst back in, Cristina and George in tow. "I thought I told you to get the food ready, not sit here giggling and getting drunk. You two are a nightmare together."

Both of them glared at her as Cristina snickered. "You got told."

"I was in a car accident." Addison muttered under her breath as she set her drink down and moved to help Alex in the kitchen.

"That was a month ago. Doesn't count." Izzie called after her.

Addison turned and looked at George, who was grinning. "Oh and do you agree, O'Malley?"

He looked at Meredith for help and she just shrugged, returning the wicked grin Addison gave her. "Oh no, I still, um, it still counts, Dr Montgomery…" He stuttered.

He was cut off by a large hand clapping him on the back and he turned to find Mark standing there. "Addie stop scaring the poor boy."

"Don't you knock before entering someone else's home?" She shot back, before joining Alex, wrapping her arms round him and leaning in for a kiss. She was stopped by a dish towel hitting the back of her head, Izzie yelling 'snacks' at the both of them.

* * *

Addison was stood in the kitchen, pouring herself another margarita, when she jumped as someone hugged her from behind. "Happy friend-versary!" Callie shouted in her ear.

She rolls her eyes as she turned around, leaning against the counter. "You don't hug."

Callie clapped her hands together, still grinning. "I know. But its a special occasion, Manhattan. Ooh, we should do vodka shots like last year!"

Addison snorted slightly at that. "It didn't work out too great for me last time if you remember. Plus, you seem like you've had a few already."

She pouted dramatically. "I _was_ hoping for a repeat. I missed it last time."

"And who's fault is that?" Addison rolled her eyes and accepted the vodka shot Callie had poured her regardless.

"You should thank me. Hot Young Intern Boy might not have come over if I was still there."

"He's a resident now." Addison countered automatically. "Besides, I like to think Alex and I would have happened regardless. I would've just saved myself the embarrassment of him having to shower sick off me."

"You're such a romantic." Callie said, screwing her face up in disgust. "All this 'meant to be' crap."

"Well we are." She replied simply, before shaking her head slightly. "I definitely didn't think I'd be invited back the year after after last time."

Callie laughed. "Not only were you invited back, it's your house honey."

"Not for another 2 weeks."

Callie shrugged as she threw back another shot. "Whatever. You live here anyway. Can't believe you're going to have your own house; you're all grown up."

"I used to own 2 houses with Derek. We were married for 11 years don't forget."

Callie looked her up and down, squinting at her slightly. "God, you're old."

Addison glared at her, reaching for the dish towel and throwing it at her head. It did nothing to stop her laughter though, so she hit her around the back of the head and grabbed her drink. "You're going to regret saying that, Torres!" She called as she moved to rejoin the party.

"You love me, Montgomery!"

* * *

"You're pouting." Alex stated as he wrapped his arms around Addison from behind, dropping a kiss on her exposed shoulder. "It's cute."

She leant back against his chest and tipped her head against his shoulder. "Callie called me old."

"Luckily I have a thing for older women then." He let out a grunt of pain as Addison kicked him in the shin. "What the Hell, Adds, you're wearing heels!" She just shrugged. "You know I was joking anyway. You're not old at all."

"I'm 8 years older than you."

He rolled his eyes at that. "You don't look it. You don't look a day over 30."

"Suck up." She muttered, smiling in spite of herself.

He turned her round so he could kiss her quickly. "Yep." He agreed easily. "It's true though."

"You always know how to make me feel better, honey." She laughed when he smirked, looking at her suggestively. "Get you head out of the gutter."

"Sorry." He replied in a voice that said he definitely was not. "Meredith was looking for you by the way."

"What for?" She frowned.

"Something about tequila shots and dancing."

She laughed as she rolled her eyes. "I'll find her in a minute. It's weird, isn't it? How she's one of my best friends."

"Yes, it is." He teases while dipping his head to kiss her neck. "I've been telling you all year that you're too nice."

"Maybe." She chuckled. "Makes it easier for you though."

"My girlfriend getting on with my best friend?" She nodded. "Definitely easier. Except when the two of you gang up on me."

She winked at him. "You love it."

"I love you." He replied, crashing their lips together, pressing her against the wall.

"Get a room!" Cristina called and Alex pulled back while Addison giggled, both of them raising their middle fingers at her.

"Addison, get your ass over here!" Meredith yelled when she spotted her. "It's tequila shot time!"

* * *

"Addison Montgomery, get down off there! You're just as bad as the interns!" Bailey called to her, standing with her arms crossed and looking up at where she was dancing on the couch with Cristina and Meredith.

"Miranda!" Addison grinned as Meredith helped her down, calling out 'not an intern anymore'. "You're finally here!"

"And you're drunk."" Bailey said dryly.

"Actually, no." She smiled. "I'm just happy; I've missed seeing everyone this past month and I'm practically all better. And a little bit tipsy. But not drunk."

Bailey rolled her eyes. "It's been some year. To go from throwing up on yourself to being so happy you dance on the couch."

"That was rude. And unkind. And completely true." She said, laughing. "It has been one Hell of a year. Apart from being hit by a car."

"I'm still mad at you about that." Bailey said stubbornly.

"Still not my fault." Addison threw her hands up in defence. "Come on, lets get you a drink. And find Callie. If you thought I was drunk, wait until you see her."

She went to move to the kitchen when Bailey grabbed her arm. "For what it's worth, I'm really happy for you. That you figured everything out I mean. I still can't one of my suck ups is partly responsible for it."

"Well, he is actually pretty amazing, especially when he-"

"Stop right there." Bailey held her hand up in protest. "I do not need to know this. Your sex life does not need to be in my brain."

"Ew Miranda, jeez. I was just going to say that he always knows the right thing to do to make me feel better about myself." Bailey pulled a face. "Stop that! I wasn't talking about my sex life with Alex."

"You need to come back to work. I've been spending all my time with Callie and know more about her and O'Malley than I ever wanted to." She shuddered slightly.

"And now I need a drink as well to get that image out my head." Addison shook her head, scrunching up her face. "Now, come on. I'll show you where I hid the good stuff."

* * *

Addison was stood alone, laughing as she watched Meredith and Mark ganging up on Derek. She felt Alex come up beside her, and leant into him when he wrapped his arm around her waist.

He smirked down at her. "Have I ever told you that you're so God damn hot?"

"It's like deja vu." She asked raising her eyebrow. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Yes, I am."

"Ass." She pouted at him.

He chuckled, kissing the side of her head. "It's funny though. I'm going to tell our kids that's how we got together."

"We didn't get together then." She frowned. "And you are not allowed to tell them that."

"No fun." He nudged her slightly. "And it was the start of us getting together. Kind of like how we first met, first became friends."

"You sure it wasn't when you got me a lawsuit?" She asked dryly.

He winced at that. "I really was an ass when we first met."

She hummed in agreement. "I was a bit of a controlling, miserable bitch."

"You had a reason. I didn't."

"True." She turned and cupped his face. "You've more than made up for it though."

He gave her a quick kiss. "I really don't deserve you."

"You're amazing. Trust me."

He just shook his head slightly. "Come on, Adds. It's almost the New Year. Lets get you a drink."

* * *

They were stood off to the side, holding their glasses of champagne when Meredith's voice cut through the room, the women in question swaying slightly from where she had climbed on top of the coffee table.

"Countdown is about to start!" She called. "10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year Adds." Alex said as he leant down and pressed a heated kiss to Addison's lips, pulling her flush against him and moaning slightly as she bit his lip gently.

"I have a question for you." He said, when they pulled apart.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you think we'll ever stop this outrageously long game of 20 questions?"

"Do you want to?" He asked with a smirk, chuckling as she adamantly shook her head.

"Can't think what you want to ask, you practically know everything about me." She teased.

"Maybe." A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "This one I've been wondering about for a while though."

"Oh?" She gestured at him to go ahead, some of the champagne sloshing over the edge of her glass.

"Yeah." He shifted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck before reaching out and grabbing her hand. "Adds, will you marry me?"

Her mouth dropped open and a small surprised squeak escaped her. "What?" She breathed out.

Alex smiled at her expression, before dropping to one knee and pulling a ring out of his pocket, ignoring the fact everyone had stopped to stare at him. "Addison, this past year with you as my best friend has been the best of my life. You make me want to be a good guy. I love everything about you: how you're such a good person that Meredith is now one of your best friends, the fact you always scare O'Malley, the way you always call me on my crap and your weird rollercoaster and corn dog obsession. You're beautiful and the strongest, bravest person I have ever met.

"I thought I was going to lose you earlier this month and it was the scariest few hours of my life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Adds. So, marry me?"

He finished with an awkward shrug, looking at her hopefully. Addison pressed the heel of her hand to her eyes to stem the tears as she took a shaky breath and nodded. He stood up and pulled her to him. "You have to say it." He smirked.

A laugh bubbled out of her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes." She grinned. "Yes, I would love to marry you, Alex."

He returned her smile, kissing her softly before pulling back and wiping her tears off her cheeks. They were interrupted by the cheers in the room, as their friends started to make their way to them.

She raised her eyebrow at him, moving her champagne to her right hand as she held out her left expectantly. "I want my ring, Karev."

"Bossy." He muttered as he slipped it on, smiling at her antics.

"Do you like it?" Meredith said, appearing next to them and grabbing Addison's hand. "I helped pick it."

"I love it." She smiled at her hand, before frowning. "Wait, you knew?"

Meredith grinned, before hugging her. "Yep, and it's been killing me keeping a secret!"

Addison laughed at her, as she let her go and moved over to hug Alex. "I'm really proud of you, Alex." She muttered against him.

"Thanks, Mer." He kissed her cheek. "I'm proud of me too."

"Congrats, Evil Spawn. Satan. Try not to get anymore sickeningly couple-y."

Addison rolled her eyes, before staggering slightly as Callie threw her arms around her, Bailey reluctantly giving her a small hug when she got a chance. "Congratulations, Manhattan! I'm so happy."

"I'm so pleased for you, Addison." Bailey said, before patting Alex on the arm. "You too, Karev. Don't screw it up."

"I won't." He chuckled, as both Derek and George patted him on the back.

Addison was surprised when Izzie threw herself at her, squeezing her tight. "Congratulations! I'm so excited, I love weddings. There's so much to do!" She babbled excitedly.

"Leave her alone, Iz." Alex said, saving Addison and pulling her to him. "We've only been engaged 5 minutes. At least wait until tomorrow."

Meredith snorted slightly. "Oh, I'm so glad she'll be going wedding mad at you now instead of me. Good luck with that."

"I'm not that bad!" Izzie protested indignantly, as everyone laughed at her.

Addison leaned against Alex as everyone chatted amongst themselves, tipping her head back as smiling at him. "I can't believe we're getting married."

He chuckled at her, dropping a kiss on her forehead. "We are. You're my fiancé now, Adds."

"Fiancé?" She hummed happily. "I like the sound of that."

"Good." He kissed the tip of her nose. "This is going to be a good year for us."

She held up her glass and he tapped his against it. "It is going to have a tough job topping this year. But I think it'll manage." She brought her free hand up to cup his face. "I love you so much honey."

He threaded his fingers through her hair, tangling it slightly as he moved forwards until there was barely any space between them. "I love you too." He brushed his lips softly against hers. "Always."

* * *

 **A/N: I really can't believe that this is the end. This is the longest thing I've ever written and at times even I've not known where I'm going with this seemingly plotless, 55,000+ words of Addex fluff, or if I'd ever reach the end. And yet in the back of my mind, I always envisioned it ending this way: NYE 1 year on with an engagement. There are scenes in this chapter I'm not particularly happy with (the Bailey and Addison chat for one) but the majority of this chapter for me was about reminiscing on how far everyone has** **come, and I hope I achieved that (I'll let you guys be the judge).**

 **Thank you for everyone who has stuck through all my typos and grammatical errors (there's literally hundreds, one day I might be motivated enough to fix them) and left favourites, follows and reviews for this. Without you I would have abandoned this story several times and it would forever remain incomplete: you've been amazing. This story literally feels like my baby now and I would appreciate it if you would all leave one last review, to let me know what you think of the finished product. I love each and every one of you. kirahelena x**


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